Chuck vs the Future
by Notorious JMG
Summary: A strange force has left Chuck stranded 500 years in the future. But who did it? And how? Crossover with Firefly.
1. Serenity

_Don't worry, folks, I haven't forgotten about "Chuck vs. the Pie Maker". It's just that I got inspiration for this one and wanted to get it started before I forgot about it._

* * *

**24 December 2007, 5:32 AM**

**Chandler Boulevard and Woodman Avenue, Van Nuys, California**

To say that Chuck Bartowski was not amused would be an understatement.

Half an hour ago, Chuck had been sleeping peacefully. For reasons passing all understanding, Big Mike had been kind enough to grant Chuck a day off on Christmas Eve. Chuck's plans had been to sleep, sleep some more, get up, eat, play Halo 2 for a while, go to church with Ellie, come back home, and go to bed.

And then, at 4:59 AM, his phone rang. Turns out that Lester, the Nerd Herder on call, had turned his phone off, and left Chuck's number on his voicemail message. And so, Chuck got the call to go fix a broken computer at...

"14203 Chandler," he muttered, squinting to read the addresses on the curb. It was then that he noticed a strange glow in his peripheral vision.

Turning to face forward and look out the windshield, he saw something very strange indeed...

"That looks like a stargate," he said incredulously. "But that's impossible. Am I awake?"

He pinched himself to make sure that he was, in fact, awake. When he realized that this was no dream, he brought the Herder to a stop. Peering through the windshield, he stared at the glowing portal in front of him. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

"Six, this is Two. Bartowski is in position, and the door is ready."

"Two, Six. Proceed at your discretion."

* * *

As Chuck tried to wrap his mind around the apparition that had appeared in front of him, he realized that the Herder was moving.

Right toward the portal.

"No, no," he said. "Stop!"

He stood on the Herder's brakes. No luck. He put the Herder in reverse and floored it. The engine screamed, the front tires smoked, but he was still being pulled inexorably into the glowing rift.

When the Herder's tachometer went into the red, Chuck released the gas, put the Herder in park, and set the e-brake. He decided to try a different tactic.

Chuck took off his seatbelt and opened the door. He was about to roll out of the car, when he heard the crack of a bullet fly past his head and shatter the driver's window.

"Holy shit!" he shouted, slamming the door back shut and ducking as low as he could.

As Chuck hid himself from his unknown assailant, he realized that despite being in park with the e-brake on, the Herder was accelerating. Faster, and faster he was pulled in, until finally the glow filled his perception.

* * *

"Six, this is Two. Bartowski's gone. Larkin ain't NEVER gonna find him."

* * *

Suddenly, the glow was gone. Chuck noticed he was in what appeared to be a warehouse, but only very briefly.

With the Herder in park, and with the pull from the portal gone, it went from about thirty miles per hour to zero in an instant. Chuck, not wearing his seatbelt, was catapulted from his seat. He flew through the windshield, bounced violently off the hood of the Herder, and rolled to a stop, unconscious and bleeding, against the wall opposite.

A man working on a crate against a side wall turned around when he heard the squeal of the Herder's tires on the floor, and was just in time to see Chuck hurtle across the room. "What the rutting hell..." he muttered, pulling his gun and jogging over to Chuck.

He rolled Chuck over onto his back, and shook him awake. "Hey, you. Who are you? Where the hell'd you come from?"

Chuck's eyes flitted open briefly. He saw the face above him, and the man saw Chuck's eyes fill with recognition. "Casey? Is that you?" Chuck rasped in a weak voice. Then he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Casey?" the man said. "Who the hell is that?"

Then, as if he remembered that there was a strange man that had just appeared in his cargo bay, he went to the wall intercom, and pressed the talk button.

"Captain," he said, "this is Jayne. We've got a situation in the cargo bay."

* * *

"Charles," the voice said.

Chuck slowly swam up toward the light. Consciousness was there. But who was saying Charles?

"Wake up, Charles," the voice said.

It was a pleasant voice. Certainly a nicer voice than any guy he knew. Who was saying his name, and why was he calling him Charles?

Chuck opened his eyes and blinked. Everything was a little blurry, but he was able to make out a man with brown hair looking down at him.

"Whaagghgami…" Chuck rasped, his throat dry.

The brown-haired man gave him a drink of water. "You're dehydrated," he said. "You've been unconscious for nearly twenty-four hours. You suffered a great many internal injuries, and I had to do extensive surgery to repair them."

Chuck's throat no longer feeling like the Mohave Desert, he whispered, "Where am I? And who are you?"

"My name is Simon," the brown-haired man said. "Dr. Simon Tam. You're onboard the Firefly-class transport vessel _Serenity_."

"Where's Casey?" Chuck whispered.

"Casey? I don't know a Casey," Dr. Tam replied. "When did you see him?"

"I saw him, right after I crashed," Chuck insisted. "I swear to you, it was John Casey… although he looked like he'd been homeless for two weeks."

"That was Jayne Cobb," Simon said. "He's part of our crew, although I don't necessarily know that I can give you an accurate description of what his position is. Hired thug is the closest thing I can think."

"How did I get here?" Chuck asked, leaving the question of the mysterious Casey look-a-like for another time.

"We don't really know," Dr. Tam said. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well, I was driving down Chandler Boulevard…"

"Where's that?" Dr. Tam interrupted.

"That's in Van Nuys," Chuck said, struggling to sit up a little.

"Careful," Simon warned. "I don't want you to break open any sutures. The scarring should be minimal, unless you move around a lot.

"Van Nuys," he continued. "I don't think I've ever heard of Van Nuys. Where is Van Nuys?"

Chuck looked puzzled. "You know, Van Nuys? San Fernando Valley? North Los Angeles?"

Dr. Tam's look of puzzlement grew into one of consternation. "Oh… my," he said.

Moving to the intercom, he pressed the talk button. "Captain Reynolds," he intoned, "I think you'd better come down here."

* * *

Mal Reynolds sat in the infirmary, contemplating this intruder. "So let me get this straight," he said. "You're from Los Angeles. As in Los Angeles, California, United States, Earth."

"I don't know of another one," Chuck replied.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six," Chuck said. "Why?"

"Born what year?"

"1981. Why?"

"What's that thing that is now parked in the middle of my cargo bay?"

"A 2006 Toyota Yaris painted in the colors of the Buy More Nerd Herd. You want to answer my goddamn question and tell me why you're asking me all this?"

Mal stopped short. "Wow," he said. "I haven't heard anybody say goddamn… well, ever, except in movies. It's always 'gorram'."

"What?" Chuck was getting close to the edge of frustration. "Seriously, who are you people?!"

"Well, I guess you could say we're space pirates," Mal said.

Chuck's eyebrows nearly crawled to the top of his forehead. "Suuuure you are," he said slowly. "And my name is Master Chief."

Mal looked confused. "But your ident card – it says your name is Charles Irving Bartowski."

Chuck just shook his head. "You have no idea who Master Chief is, do you?"

Mal shook his head too, a confused look spreading itself across his face.

"It's not Christmas Eve 2007, is it?" Chuck asked, realization setting in.

"'Fraid not," Mal said. "It's Christmas Eve 2518."

Chuck stared at Mal Reynolds. His mind was bombarded with a thousand thoughts.

Finally he spoke.

"Well… shit."


	2. Message in a Bottle

Chuck woke with a start, unsure of where he was.

He looked frantically around the room. He wasn't just unsure. He had no idea where he was. He pulled out his cell phone.

No reception.

He used the light of the phone to look around the room, seeing if he would flash on something.

Nothing.

Chuck found the door and burst out –

To see a red-headed girl dozing in a lawn chair right outside his door.

"Hello?" he said.

She woke up with a start. Looking up at him, she smiled.

"Hi!" she said, far too brightly for having just woken up, in Chuck's opinion. "You must be Charles Bartowski!"

"You can call me Chuck," he said. "I'm on… I'm on the _Serenity_, right?"

"Yep!" she replied. "Best little ship out there, as far as I'm concerned."

Then her mouth dropped open. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm so rude! My name's Kaylee Frye. I'm the ship's mechanic."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Chuck said.

"Is that your transport that's crashed down in the cargo bay?" she asked, hope in her voice.

"Yes, that's my car," he replied. "I imagine… well, I went from 30 to zero in practically no time at all, and the transmission is probably totally fried."

"I can fix it!" she said. "Is it an automatic or a stick?"

"It's an automatic… you can fix it?" Chuck asked, incredulously.

"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "Transmissions haven't changed in principle in the last five centuries. We've got an ATV in the cargo bay that probably has a more rudimentary transmission than your… uh, car?"

"Okay…" Chuck said, nodding.

The intercom on the wall crackled to life. "Kaylee, this is Mal. Is Charles awake yet?"

"Yep, Chuck's up!" she replied.

"Have him meet me in the mess hall," Captain Reynolds said.

"I'll see you there, Captain," Chuck yelled at the intercom, heading down the hall.

Kaylee watched him for a moment. _He's got a really nice ass,_ she thought to herself. Then, as if embarrassed at her own thoughts, she shook her head. "You're going the wrong way there, Chuck!"

* * *

She held the knife in her hand. Caressed it, almost. 

"Marine Corps issue Ka-Bar," she said. "Cut through your flesh, no problem whatsoever."

"Screw you, bitch," the man known as Two replied.

"Hmmm… bad plan," she said nonchalantly. With a flick of her wrist, the Ka-Bar went through his right shoe and his right foot, pinning it to the floor. His back arched, and he howled in pain. She reached down and wrenched the knife back out of his foot.

"Now, here's the deal," she said. "You're going to tell me exactly what you did. For every thirty seconds that passes that you haven't told me, I'm going to cut a six inch strip of your skin off of somewhere on your body. My choice."

"There's no chance I'll tell you," Two laughed. "I'll die before you find out."

"That's your choice," she replied. "Oh, look, it's been thirty seconds."

She grabbed his left arm, dug the blade of the knife in, and ripped off a strip of skin. Six inches long.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he screamed, agony rippling across his face.

"Oh, did you not like that?" she asked, a hard edge in her voice. "Why don't you tell me something?"

"Screw… you… bitch!" Two gasped. "Why… are you… so concerned… about the freak… anyway?"

"HE WAS MY ASSIGNMENT!" she growled. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HIM!"

"Yeah… whatever." He laughed weakly. "You only… care because he… he gets you wet downst-"

He was cut off by a back-handed slap to the face. Her nails cut open his cheek and drew blood.

"I'm never gonna tell you," Two rasped with an evil laugh, "so you might as well kill me."

She turned her back to him. "Fine," she replied.

Sarah Walker turned around, aimed her gun at the Fulcrum man, and put a bullet right through the middle of his forehead.

* * *

"So here's the deal," Captain Reynolds said to Chuck. "I've had my first mate, Zoe Washburn, checking the Alliance Central Cortex through an encrypted link. She's been searching for any mention of your name, in whatever combination. Oddly enough, we found something addressed to a Charles Bartowski, year 25??" 

"You're kidding," Chuck said.

"It was at the Museum of Ancient History on the planet Persephone," Mal said. "My friend Inara was on the planet, and using her… talents… she was able to get hold of it. She said that there was a strange series of letters and numbers on it. She's on her way, should be here in a few hours."

"Did she happen to say what the series was?" Chuck asked, immediately realizing what it might be.

"No," Reynolds said. "I'm sorry."

"That's quite alright," Chuck said. "I'll see it soon enough."

* * *

He turned around and stubbed out his cigar on the forehead of the man called Six. "Don't like that, do ya?" he growled as Six cried out sharply in pain. 

"Now, I have no idea what you did. I'm not even sure what I saw on the L.A. traffic video. But I know you did something to him, and you're gonna tell me what. Otherwise, I'm gonna put out some more cigars on your body."

He paused, pulled a fresh cigar out of his coat pocket. "Or, I could just use this on you," he said, fondling his cigar clipper.

Having clipped the end of his cigar, he placed it in his mouth, and proceeded to light it. He blew a cloud of smoke in Six's face, and as he was coughing, grabbed his belt and roughly pulled his pants to his ankles.

"Aw, fear make you shrink all up?" he asked Six menacingly, holding the cigar clipper just inches from his crotch.

"Okay! Okay!" Six howled. "Alright! We got sent a package from Area 51, and we were given instructions on how to activate it. All I know is that it was supposed to send him something like 500 years into the future!"

"And you honestly don't know anything else? Just that it came from the military weapons development center in Nevada, and it somehow sent him to the year 2500?"

"Yes!" he howled. "Please! Have mercy!"

"Screw you," he said.

John Casey pulled out his Glock, and sent the Fulcrum man to meet his maker.

* * *

The hatch opened – and a beautiful woman stepped out. Chuck's mind immediately shut down, and his other brain went into overdrive. 

"Hello, Mal," she said, greeting the captain with a hug. Then she turned to Chuck. "And you must be Charles Bartowski."

"Uh… hi," he said. Then he snapped out of it. "Sorry, yeah. I'm Chuck Bartowski."

"I'm Inara Serra," she said. "I understand you're a time traveler… and I think I have something for you."

Reaching into her messenger bag, she removed a small, flat box. "This is apparently for you," she said, handing it to Chuck.

Chuck took the box from her. He slid the lid off to reveal the envelope inside.

It was yellowed and tattered – more than five hundred years old. The ink was faded, almost to a light brown. But that handwriting – it was unmistakable. He would've recognized it anywhere.

_Charles Bartowski, Year 25?? 219 F5U922_

He gasped involuntarily, recognizing the Stanford Library reference number.

Delicately, he lifted the envelope from the box. It was still sealed, 511 years after it was written.

Gently, he slid his finger under the corner. He slowly tugged the envelope open, ancient dried glue crumbling and falling as dust to the floor.

He withdrew the letter inside. Having been folded for more than five centuries, it had cracked and separated into three pieces. Nonetheless, he was able to put them together, one above the other, and read the letter quite easily. Having been printed on a laser printer, the ink had lasted longer and was darker.

_Chuck,_

_Fulcrum somehow got their hands on a technology that they shouldn't have. They decided to use it against you, because they feel that if they can't have you, then nobody can._

_We're trying to figure out how it works, but we're not sure yet._

_Bryce, Casey, and I are all working as hard as we can on this. We've also had to do some covering in the real world – we had to get the NSA to destroy a Herder at the intersection you disappeared at, and we had to get a fake body into the ICU at Northridge Medical Center to make Ellie and Awesome think you were in a horrific accident._

_I know this all sounds horrible, but we're doing it because you're important. We're going to get you back, I promise._

_Sarah_

At the bottom of the letter, she had hand written a PS that was almost illegible. It was faded, and Chuck could see one spot where something wet had fallen on it and blurred it.

* * *

"Looks good," Casey said, handing the letter to Sarah. "I still think this is a wild-ass plan, to stick this in the CIA archives, and hope against hope that it somehow finds its way to him five centuries from now." 

"I know," Sarah said. "But I just feel like we need to do something to somehow reassure him. I- I don't know, Casey. It just feels like the right thing to do."

"Right," Casey said. "Well, Ellie Bartowski asked me if I wanted to come have some Christmas dinner, and I'm not refusing the offer."

"Real nice," Sarah said dryly. "She thinks her brother's in the ICU, and you're gonna go eat his turkey drumstick."

"Never let it be said that I let good food go to waste," Casey called, letting the door close behind him.

Sarah looked back at the letter. She read it over again, and then she picked up a pen.

* * *

_P.S. – I wish you were here, Chuck… it just doesn't feel right without you. I miss you. Merry Christmas._

Chuck held the letter gently. A tangible connection to Sarah. He could almost feel her. He held the letter to his nose, and imagined he could almost smell the subtle perfume she always wore. His eyes welled with tears.

* * *

Sarah's eyes welled with tears. One slowly rolled down her cheek and dropped onto the letter, blurring "Merry" in the last sentence. 

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and then folded the letter. Placing it in the envelope, she sealed it, and headed out to send it to Langley.

"I'm going to get you back home, Chuck," she whispered.


	3. The Trouble with the NSA

Chuck sat by himself in Serenity's mess, drinking a cup of coffee and reading

Chuck sat by himself in _Serenity_'s mess, drinking a cup of coffee and reading. He had been given two books – "A Brief History of the Alliance", and the Holy Bible, from the possessions of a man who Mal had said had been named Shepherd Derrial Book. "He and I may not have always been on the same wavelength," Mal had said, "but he was a good man. He helped us many, many times, and even leading up to his death, he was helping other people."

Chuck found himself engrossed in the events that led up to the formation of the Alliance. In the early twenty-second century, a series of vicious storms and droughts had ravaged Russia, leaving the United States and China as the only true superpowers left. By the middle of the twenty-third century, Earth was practically unlivable, and so most humans had set off for other planets.

Some countries simply dissolved, but the United States and China had decided to keep their countries intact. In the late twenty-fifth century, they had decided to form an overarching Alliance that would govern all the planets that humans had colonized, forming one super-government.

There were a few thorns in the Alliance's side – the British Empire, Japan, the breakaway Republic of Texas, and several others who called themselves Independents. However, in 2511, the Alliance had finally prevailed, defeating the Independents once and for all. They celebrated Unification Day on the day that the Independents had surrendered.

Chuck wasn't sure whether or not he should be horrified. On the one hand, he was happy that the United States still existed in some form 500 years after he lived. On the other hand, he couldn't believe the measures that they had taken to ensure their continued existence.

As he was reading, the one who Dr. Tam had called Jayne Cobb came in and set down across from him. He just sat, staring at Chuck for several minutes, before Chuck closed his book and spoke. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Jayne stared at him some more. "Why'd you call me Casey?" he asked.

"Because you happen to look like a guy I know," Chuck said. "That's all."

"Yeah, yeah, John Casey," Jayne said. "The doc told me. See, thing is, I been lookin' on the Cortex, and I searched for a John Casey from 500 years ago. Found him, too."

"You're kidding," Chuck said, sitting up straight in his chair.

"Nope," Jayne replied, slapping down a piece of paper in front of Chuck. Sure enough, it was a portrait-style picture of Casey – in his Buy More uniform, no less. Chuck couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Why's it funny?" Jayne asked.

"Well, you see, this picture was taken of Casey in the store he worked with me at – Buy More. But he didn't work there, not really."

Jayne breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, hallelujah. I knew my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpappy wasn't no electronics store clerk."

Chuck's jaw dropped. "Wait a second. Did you just say that John Casey was one of your ancestors?"

"Damn skippy," Jayne said.

Then Chuck had a further revelation. "Oh my God," he gasped. "That means Casey had kids."

Jayne gave him a sort of cock-eyed look. "Yeah… that a problem?"

"No, no," Chuck said quickly, backpedaling a bit. "It's just… Casey never seemed like the type to have a family… he's married to his work, and he works for the National Security Agency…"

Now it was Jayne's turn to have his jaw drop. "You're kidding me. He worked for the NSA?"

"You know about the NSA?" Chuck asked in surprise.

"Are you joking? The NSA's the biggest rutting bunch of sleazeballs and rats to ever come out of the Alliance intelligence services."

Jayne sighed unhappily. "It might've been better if he were workin' at the electronics store."

"No, no," Chuck said, trying again to reassure Jayne. "Casey's a good man – he's not a bad person, he just loves his country and is trying to protect it."

But Jayne was having none of it. He got up from the table unhappily, and grumped off, muttering as he went, "Can't believe I'm the relative of a gorram NSA slime."

"Well… crap," Chuck sighed unhappily, as Jayne receded from view. He turned back to his book, sighing heavily, just in time to see Kaylee Frye slide into the seat Jayne had just vacated.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "What are you reading?"

"A Brief History of the Alliance," Chuck mock-proclaimed. "Fascinating bit of reading. If you like tyranny and dictatorships."

"Nothing like it," Kaylee said with a smile. "There's a reason I came out here and joined these crazy Independents.

"Anyway," she continued, "what did you say to Jayne to make him go stomping off looking like he was about to cry?"

"Well," Chuck explained, "when I crashed into the ship, I saw him briefly, and mistook him for a guy I knew by the name of John Casey. Well, Jayne went searching for information on Casey, and found out that he was his something like fourteen-times great-grandfather."

"Well isn't that something!" Kaylee exclaimed. "You had a connection to our ragtag little crew, and you didn't even know it!"

Then she stopped and frowned. "But that doesn't explain why he was so upset."

"Well," Chuck hesitated. "You see, I told him that John Casey worked for the National Security Agency."

Kaylee's eyes went wide and she clapped her hands to her mouth. "You can't tell somebody that!" she said in a shocked whisper. "Saying that one of somebody's ancestors worked for the NSA is like saying they're an outcast!"

"I didn't know that!" Chuck responded. "And Casey really did work for the NSA! But he was a good guy! I worked with him, and everything he did was for his country and to protect people!"

"If you say so," Kaylee replied, apparently unconvinced.

"Can we just drop it?" Chuck asked. "Can we talk about something else?"

Kaylee thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay," she said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," Chuck thought for a moment. "I noticed that you guys' celebration of Christmas was a little… well, sparse. Why is that?"

"You see," Kaylee said, "right before humans left Earth, a really conservative sect of Christians took over the United States government, and they outlawed all holidays except for Christmas and Easter, and those they insisted on stripping down to religious basics. Now, those laws were tossed out the window when the Alliance was formed – freedom of religion and all that – but it's just so ingrained in everybody's head that the only other holiday we even celebrate is New Year's Day."

"You're kidding," Chuck said. "No Halloween? No St. Patrick's Day? No Valentine's Day?"

"Nope," Kaylee said solemnly. "I have no idea what any of those are, but I like the sound of Valentine's Day. What's that?"

"Well, originally, it was this celebration of a guy named Valentine who had sent letters from prison on leaves shaped like hearts," Chuck said.

Then he stopped. "How the hell did I know… oh, right, the Intersect."

Kaylee looked at him, confused. "The Inter-what?"

Chuck looked at her, apprehension written all over his face. "Well… um… hmm."

He stopped. "I guess… I guess the best way to describe it is that I have a supercomputer in my head with all the knowledge of the different United States intelligence services up through September 25th, 2007."

Kaylee's eyes widened in wonder. "Really?! That is so… cool!"

Chuck laughed sarcastically. "Yeah… you aren't the one with the computer inside your head. And people after you who send you 500 years into the future so that you can't be put to use."

"That's why you ended up here?" Kaylee asked. Chuck nodded, and Kaylee seemed to shrink back into herself. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean…"

"No, no, it's okay," Chuck said hurriedly. "You didn't know. Listen, why don't I finish telling you about Valentine's Day?"

"Okay!" Kaylee said, a little bit of her bright disposition returning.

"So, anyway, it was originally just a way for the Church to celebrate the life of this saint, but in the twentieth century, a greeting card company decided it would be a great way to make money, and they turned it into this holiday where people tell their boyfriends or girlfriends or life partners or whatever how much they love them, and blah blah blah. There's billions of dollars spent every year on cards and chocolates and roses –"

"Roses?" Kaylee interrupted. "You mean the red flowers from Earth?"

"Yeah," Chuck replied. "Have you ever seen one?"

"Well, only in pictures," Kaylee said. "They tried growing them on some of the terraformed planets, but they were one of the species that wouldn't grow off-Earth, and so they're extinct now. I wish they weren't – they were really pretty."

"Wow," Chuck said. "That's actually… kind of sad. I'm not a really romantic sort of guy, but to think of there not being any roses… huh."

"So, do you have somebody you celebrate Valentine's Day with?" Kaylee asked.

Chuck laughed, a little bitterness evident. "Funny you should ask," he replied dryly. "There's this girl – her name is Sarah – we're friends, but we both know we like each other. The thing is, she's from the Central Intelligence Agency –"

"The what?" Kaylee asked.

"The Cent- wait, are you telling me the NSA survived and the CIA didn't?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know," Kaylee said. "I've never heard of the CIA."

"Well that sucks," Chuck said. "Anyway, she works or the CIA, and she's kind of my protector, and she doesn't feel like she can let our friendship go any further without compromising her job, so we agreed to just be friends. But here's the thing.

"A little while back, we were in a situation where she thought we were both gonna die, and so she basically decided 'The hell with it' and kissed me. And it was a GREAT kiss. I'm talking this kiss was better than sex, pretty much."

Kaylee's jaw dropped. "Woowwww…" she uttered. "That must've been one hell of a kiss."

"Yeah, it was," Chuck said, a smile on his face as he remembered the kiss. Then his smile faded as he remembered what happened right after that.

"But she decided it was a mistake, and so we're just friends, which… well, which kind of sucks. But I understand why."

"At least you understand," Kaylee said. "There's this guy… well, you met him – Dr. Tam. It's been months now, but there was one day, when we were in the engine room – and, well, one thing led to another, and let's say the engines weren't the only things creating thrust in there."

"Oh, that was bad," Chuck groaned. "Come on, if you're going to make sex jokes, they can't be that cheesy."

"Hey, I'm a mechanic, not a comedian," Kaylee snapped. "I'm doing my best here.

"But anyway, so Simon and I were real close for a few days, and then all of a sudden, it was right back to being just friends again, and it's been like that for months."

Chuck opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, an alarm sounded.

"This is the Captain," Mal's disembodied voice sounded from the intercoms. "We have a Reaver ship coming up behind us. It doesn't seem to know that we're here, and I think it would be best if it stays that way. Kaylee, get to the engine room, shut everything down. River, Zoe, please come to the bridge."

Kaylee muttered something in Chinese. Chuck had no idea what it was, but it didn't sound pleasant. "What's going on?" he said.

"Reavers," Kaylee said simply, standing up and dashing out of the mess. Chuck had to run to catch up with her, and by the time he did, he was out of breath.

"What- are- Reavers?" he gasped, struggling to keep pace with her.

"Madmen," she said simply. "Space cannibals. Long story short, the Alliance put a chemical in the atmosphere on a planet called Miranda, and the Reavers were the result. If they get hold of you, they'll rape and beat you to death, eat your flesh, and string you up. If you're lucky, the dying part comes in the first stage."

"Jesus Christ!" Chuck gasped in shock. "What the hell do we do?!"

"Well, what I do is work my magic on the engines to make sure they don't get hold of us, if they decide to chase us," Kaylee said. "What you do is strap yourself into that chair on the wall and hang on."

_To be continued…_


	4. Close Encounters

"Reavers," Kaylee said simply, standing up and dashing out of the mess. Chuck had to run to catch up with her, and by the time he did, he was out of breath.

"What- are- Reavers?" he gasped, struggling to keep pace with her.

"Madmen," she said simply. "Space cannibals. They went to the edge of known space and went crazy. If they get hold of you, they'll rape and beat you to death, eat your flesh, and string you up. If you're lucky, the dying part comes in the first stage."

"Jesus Christ!" Chuck gasped in shock. "What the hell do we do?!"

"Well, what I do is work my magic on the engines to make sure they don't get hold of us, if they decide to chase us," Kaylee said. "What you do is strap yourself into that chair on the wall and hang on."

"No problem!" Chuck said, strapping himself into the chair mounted against the wall. "Please God don't let me die," he muttered.

Kaylee quickly shut down the engines, and the noise in the engine room dropped to practically zero. The lights dimmed very low, but even then, Chuck could see the fear on Kaylee's face.

* * *

Mal stared out the windshield. The Reaver ship had stopped practically directly above them.

"What the hell are they playing at?" Zoe whispered.

"No idea," Mal whispered back.

"Maybe they're just playing with us," River whispered.

Mal and Zoe just stared at her.

"You know, like a cat with a mouse?"

Mal glared daggers at River. "Okay, I'll be quiet now," she whispered.

Without warning, a giant cloud of detritus spewed out of the belly of the Reaver ship, headed directly for _Serenity_.

Mal cursed in Mandarin. "Brace yourselves!" he whispered over the intercom.

Then the cloud struck _Serenity_.

* * *

Kaylee heard a bare whisper over the intercom. "What?" she said.

She took a step toward the intercom, but never made it.

_Serenity_ lurched down and to the right. Kaylee screamed as she lost her footing, tumbling across the deck.

Then _Serenity_ pitched back, and Kaylee went flying through the air – right into the waiting arms of Chuck Bartowski.

"Got you!" he said, grabbing Kaylee and holding on as tightly as he could.

Then, just as suddenly as it had gone wild, _Serenity_ became still again. With the lack of motion, Chuck suddenly realized the position he was in.

Here he was, with a rather pretty girl sitting in his lap, his arms around her waist, her chest brushing up against his, her face just a few centimeters from his – and regions other than his mind were starting to notice.

He looked up, to see Kaylee looking directly into his eyes. Their eyes stayed locked for a few seconds, and Chuck realized he was about two seconds from being in an extremely awkward position if he didn't get Kaylee off his lap.

"Uh… maybe… maybe you should check with Captain Reynolds to see what just happened?" he stammered, releasing his hold on Kaylee's waist.

"Right… right, of course!" she said, as of coming out of a trance. Sliding off of Chuck's lap (and just in time, too), she scurried over to the intercom. "Kaylee to Mal… what's up?"

* * *

"Okay, they're alright down there," Mal said. "That's good."

He hit the intercom switch. "Turns out the Reavers were just stopping to dump some trash. They're on their merry cannibalistic way again. You can power everything back up now."

Mal turned to face Zoe. "You know, one of these days, the Alliance is going to have to take care of the Reavers, and much as I hate to even say these words, I would definitely want the Alliance to be the victorious side."

Zoe looked at Mal strangely. "You know," she said, "I'm not sure if you're finally developing a knack for logical reasoning, or if Inara just has your balls hidden away somewhere."

"Inara does not have my balls hidden anywhere," Mal replied crossly. "I have no idea why you would even say something like that."

"Because you're a horny bastard, Captain," River said, keeping a completely straight face.

Zoe started laughing. She tried to conceal it, but it was no good, and soon, laughter was pouring out of her in great guffaws. River managed to hold her front for a while, but soon, she was laughing as well.

Mal looked at them and shook his head. "I get no respect. None. None at all. I'd get more respect if I was captain of a ship crewed by monkeys."

For some reason, Zoe and River found this uproariously funny and were soon collapsed on the floor in laughter. Mal growled under his breath and stalked to the door to head down to engineering – and opened it just in time to see Kaylee and Chuck on the other side.

Chuck looked around Mal. "Wow… ROFL indeed," he said.

"This looks fun, Captain," Kaylee said with a smile. "What's going on?"

Mal growled unintelligibly. Pushing between Chuck and Kaylee, he stormed off down the corridor.

"What did he say?" Zoe said.

"I think he said something about a bulk order of monkeys," Chuck said.

New peals of laughter burst forth from Zoe and River. "I'm confused," said Chuck. "What the hell's going on?"

"Well," Zoe said, composing herself, "River called Mal a horny bastard, and then he said he'd get more respect if his ship were crewed by monkeys – and – and –"

Zoe collapsed in laughter once more.

* * *

Casey looked on in disbelief. "This is our secret weapon?" he asked, incredulous. "This is what we're going to recover Chuck with? A non-working, test vehicle space shuttle?"

"Oh, no, Major Casey," General Beckman replied. "The American public just thinks the _Enterprise_ is a non-working test vehicle. And as soon as this assignment is over, that's what you two are going to think as well. Got me?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Sarah. "So what are we going to be doing here?"

"Well," General Beckman said, "the technology that Fulcrum stole from Area 51 is something we've been working on for a while. It was discovered on an alien ship that crashed south of Phoenix in 1997. What Fulcrum stole was just a prototype – we've made a version that can be installed on a space ship and actually send it through time and space.

"The problem, though, is that while we can calibrate the destination time pretty accurately, we're still pretty much in the dark on the destination location."

"Well, that doesn't seem to do us very much good, now does it?" Casey asked sarcastically. "We go forward to the right year, but we wind up on the other side of the galaxy from where Chuck actually is."

"Which is why the _Enterprise_ has been fitted with special prototype pulse-drive engines that are at least 100 years ahead of anything NASA has," General Beckman answered. "It's not the fastest, but it's technology that would get you from here to Mars in three days."

Casey's eyebrows shot up. "That's… that's pretty incredible," he said.

"Damn straight it is," General Beckman replied. "So here's the deal. You're going to stay here in Houston and get a crash course in being astronauts. A 747 will be flying the _Enterprise_ to Vandenberg Air Force Base. You launch on Saturday."

"A three day crash course in being astronauts?" Sarah inquired. "We're going to know… well, pretty much nothing."

"Which is why you're going to have real astronauts along for the ride," General Beckman said. "They'll be your drivers. You're going as intelligence officers. Your mission is to find Bartowski and bring him home."

* * *

Chuck was lying on the bed in his quarters, the lights dim. He had been told that his quarters, like his reading material, had once belonged to Shepherd Book. He couldn't get his mind off of what had happened in the engine room earlier. Much as he was trying to not admit it, he had really enjoyed having Kaylee that close to him. After all, he would've had to have been blind to not see that she was attractive… and well, his reaction to her, that was just biologi-

At that moment, there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," Chuck said, sitting up.

And speak of the devil, it was Kaylee. "Hi, Chuck," she said softly, shyly.

"Hi, Kaylee," he said back, somewhat less shyly. "What's up?"

"Listen," she said. "About what happened earlier… in engineering… um, I guess… I just…"

"Don't worry," Chuck said. "It certainly wasn't your fault that you fell in my lap. You were getting tossed around the engine room, and I happened to catch you."

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you later."

She was almost out the door when she turned around. Her face looked a little strange to Chuck, almost as if she were bracing herself for something. When she spoke, she spoke quickly.

"Listen, Chuck, I really think you're cute, and if you had waited maybe a second longer in engineering to suggest I check in with Captain Reynolds, I probably would've kissed you, and oh God I've got to go I'll be in my bunk."

With that, Kaylee flushed nearly the color of her hair, and disappeared out the door.

Chuck just sat there, staring after her, a shocked yet satisfied grin on his face. Slowly he shook his head, and then, opening the drawer of the desk next to the bed, he pulled out a pen and a pad of paper, and began to write.

_Yo Morgan,_

_I kind of wish you were here, buddy. You wouldn't believe this. Actually, now that I think about, it's probably for the best you aren't here. You'd pretty much hate me right now. First Sarah, then Lou, and now this._

* * *


	5. San Fernando

**3:02 P.M.**

**Thursday, December 27****th****, 2007**

**Somewhere over Texas**

**Onboard a modified Boeing 767**

"I hate this," Casey grumped as the 767 pulled out of its dive. He settled back to the deck gravity having returned once more.

"Why?" Sarah asked. "This is fun!"

"Well, first of all, I hate flying," he said. "Secondly, this is making me nauseous."

"_Five seconds to dive, folks,"_ came the voice over the intercom.

"Get ready!" Sarah said gleefully.

Casey rolled his eyes, and then the 767 pitched over and started diving toward the earth once more.

As Casey lifted off the floor, something else started to lift off as well, and he felt it.

"Oh God," Casey grunted. "Oh God, this is not good."

"What?" Sarah asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, I had a big pastrami sandwich for lunch… and uh…"

"Oh my God."

Sarah used her hands to push her along the wall to the intercom. "Casey's about to blow pastrami all over me," she said sharply. "Could we come out of the dive please?"

As quickly as she said it, the 767 leveled out. Casey drifted to the ground, and crawled to the bulkhead. Grabbing a barf bag, he stuck his face in it.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose.

* * *

**3:12 P.M.**

**San Fernando, California**

Bryce Larkin blasted onto I-210 at a rate of speed that would've gotten him arrested by any CHP officer worth his badge. He had found the device that Fulcrum used, and he had to get to a certain location by a certain time for it to work properly.

A Fulcrum man was tied up in the backseat. "You're coming with me, jackass," Bryce had said as he tased him for about the sixth time thirty minutes prior.

Now Bryce was headed for the Angeles Crest Highway. Supposedly, about a mile north of where it intersected the 210, he could set the device up, and it would send him approximately to where Chuck was.

As Bryce blasted through La Crescenta, the guy in the back started mumbling something. Bryce turned around, and ripped the piece of duct tape off his mouth. "What?" he yelled.

"You're never gonna find Bartowski, loser. He's go-"

His words were cut off by Bryce's fist to his mouth.

"I'll find Chuck," Bryce said. "I'll find him.

* * *

After the 767 had landed back at Lackland Air Force Base, Sarah turned her cell phone back on – and discovered she had a message. Dialing her voicemail, she was surprised to hear the voice of Ellie Bartowski.

"Sarah… it's Ellie," she said. "Listen, I know you're out of town for the holidays… but I needed to let you know… Chuck's been in a horrible accident. He's in the hospital… he's been unconscious for three days now. If you get this, please call me back right away. Thanks."

Sarah hung up the phone and bowed her head. The pain in Ellie's voice was almost palpable, and the knowledge that she herself was contributing to Ellie's pain was a horrible burden to bear.

Casey walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. "Everything okay?" he asked.

She turned around and looked at him with a renewed intensity. "We've got to find Chuck," she said. "We've got to do it soon."

"Believe me, I know," Casey said. "I swear to God, I get one more call from Morgan Grimes, I'm gonna break my phone."

"I got a call from Ellie Bartowski," Sarah replied. "She sounds like she's on the edge of falling apart."

Casey sighed. "You know…" He stopped.

"What?" Sarah asked.

Casey kept silent for a moment more. Then: "The sensors went off when his phone rang. I listened to the call. I didn't tail him, because I figured he'd be safe. I also didn't trace the call. If I had, it would've come up with a number that's listed as a known Fulcrum number in our database."

He stopped again. Sarah shook her head. "Casey, this is not your fault. You had no way of knowing that Chuck was going to be in danger on what looked like a routine work call."

Casey looked at her, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Protecting Chuck Bartowski was my assignment. I failed in that assignment. I failed miserably."

But he was just getting ramped up. "But you know what else? None of this ever would've happened if that shit Larkin –"

"Watch your mouth," Sarah warned.

"– hadn't sent Chuck that goddamn Intersect database. If he'd just destroyed it and then gone after Fulcrum, this never would've happened. Chuck wouldn't have been in danger, you and I wouldn't be training to go into the nether reaches of time to chase him down. This is all Larkin's fault. I would give anything for five minutes alone with that little bast-"

Sarah's open left hand cut him off as she slapped Casey with all the force she could muster.

Casey stood in shock, just looking at Sarah. He rubbed his face briefly, and then spoke.

"Thanks," he said. "I needed that."

"Yeah, no shit," Sarah replied, with an edge to her voice. "This is not your fault. This is not Bryce's fault. This is not Chuck's fault. This is Fulcrum's fault, and believe me, they're gonna pay. I've already killed one of their men over this –"

"Really? Me too," Casey interjected.

"– and I'm sure we'll both be killing more. But for right now, our mission – yours, mine – is getting onboard the _Enterprise_, finding Chuck, and bringing him home. Now, are you gonna be able to handle that, or are you gonna keep having episodes like you just had?"

Casey steeled his spine, almost coming to attention. "I believe we need to go kick some interstellar ass."

* * *

Bryce set the device up by the side of the road. Activating it, he set it to the same calibration that it had been at on Christmas Eve.

He backed his Trans Am up a quarter mile. He revved the engine as he waited for the portal to activate.

When he saw it come into glowing existence down the road, he hit the gas. As he did so, the Fulcrum guy in back woke up. Sitting up, his eyes grew wide, and he started making frantic noises.

"Shut up and lie back down," Bryce snapped. "You're comin' with me, bitch."

Bryce hit the portal at 70 mph. When he came through on the other side, he realized he was in a gigantic hangar. He slammed on both the brake and the clutch, and stopped just a few inches from what looked like some sort of… space-hopper?

Almost immediately, his Trans Am was surrounded by a dozen troops. "Step out of the vehicle with your hands in the air!" one shouted.

Bryce complied, and the one who had yelled ran up to him and handcuffed him.

"You are under arrest for trespassing on the Alliance cruiser _Columbia_," the soldier informed him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. Do you choose to waive these rights?"

Bryce looked him in the eye. "Not a chance in hell."

"Alright," the soldier said, giving another soldier a nod.

Bryce felt something hit the back of his head – and then everything was black.


	6. Don't Mess With Texas

**11:47 A.M.**

**December 31****st****, 2518  
Over the planet Houston**

"All hands, prepare for landing," Captain Reynolds voice came over the intercom.

Chuck looked up from his reading. Dr. Tam had given him an electronic book reader, and Inara had been able to supply him with access to a database of electronic books. It turned out that Orson Scott Card had written 22 books post-2007, so Chuck was getting caught up a bit.

Chuck thought for a moment about the previous six days. Kaylee had been very shy around him since the incident in his quarters, though she always smiled (and then proceeded to turn bright red) whenever she saw him. This had made her the object of some gentle teasing on Mal and Zoe's part. Jayne, on the other hand, had simply taken to giving Chuck looks of death whenever he saw him, and Chuck wasn't sure the primary cause – Kaylee's obvious attraction to him, or the fact that he had told Jayne about Casey's job.

The descent to the planet was a little bumpy, but Chuck had experienced worse on the L.A. to San Francisco shuttle when he was going to Stanford. Once_Serenity_ had come to a stop, he rose from his bed and headed out, going toward the cargo bay.

He arrived there just as Captain Reynolds and River Tam entered. "Welcome all to the planet Houston. It's not my home, but it's almost as good," Reynolds proclaimed. "Though Houston may be part of the Alliance now, it will always be a proud member of the Republic of Texas.

"So, just one word of advice to enjoy ringing in the New Year," he continued. "Don't mess with Texas. Remember that, and you'll be just fine."

"They still say that?" Chuck muttered to himself.

"What was that, Chuck?" Mal asked.

"Nothing… never mind."

"Alright," Mal said. "Since Chuck is a newbie to not just this planet, but to our time, I think we need to have somebody stay with him, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, start a war, you know, that kind of thing. So, I would like –"

"I'll do it," Jayne growled.

"– Kaylee to keep an eye on him."

Jayne growled something unintelligible, while Kaylee turned red (yet again), smiled and whispered something under her breath that Chuck wasn't positive about but could've sworn sounded like she said _Shiny_.

* * *

**5:59 A.M.**

**Saturday, December 29****th****, 2007**

**Vandenberg Air Force Base, California**

"Houston, this is Vandenberg Control. We are t-minus two minutes to launch."

Sarah looked over at Casey. He did not appear to be having a good time. Suited up in his spacesuit and strapped into a seat, essentially lying on his back, his face had gone pale and he had what would've probably been a white-knuckle grip on his arm rests, had Sarah been able to see his knuckles.

"Casey," she said. He didn't respond. "Casey!"

He turned his head toward her. "Yeah?" he said, his voice cracking.

"Calm down!" Sarah exclaimed. "You look like you think you're about to die."

"Sarah," Casey hissed, "all due respect to your well-developed sense of calm, but has it occurred to you that we're sitting on top of several million gallons of combustible gasses that are about to combine to create a contained explosion roughly equivalent to the Hiroshima bomb, which will generate the force necessary to push us into the cold, unforgiving void?"

Sarah shook her head. "You have absolutely NO sense of adventure. It's no wonder you drove that stupid Ford."

A little bit of color returned to Casey's face. "Don't you dare talk about her that way!"

"Her?" Sarah asked, incredulous. "Casey! It was a 22 year old ex-cop car!"

"That car was my pride and joy. I made her shiny, and then Chuck blew her up!"

"Get over it," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "If you want another one, tell the NSA… I'm sure they'll pony up the dough for another 1985 P.O.S."

Casey opened his mouth to talk, but was cut off by the controller. "T-minus sixty seconds and counting. Fifty-nine…"

The pilot – a Major Lorenz, USMC – spoke to them for the first time since they had boarded. "Alright, you folks ready to go back there?"

"Looking forward to it!" Sarah replied.

"Roger that," Casey grumbled.

"It's gonna be a little bumpy on the way up," Lorenz said. "We don't launch out of Vandenberg, well, hardly ever because of weather concerns, but we really had to this time. Once we reach orbit, it might take you a while to adjust. A lot of first timers in space have some nausea problems."

Alarmed, Sarah looked over at Casey. "Please tell me you didn't have pastrami for dinner last night."

"Nope," Casey assured her.

"T-minus ten… nine… eight…"

"I just had a big plate of bacon and eggs before we left, though."

"Oh, Christ."

"Four… we have booster ignition… three… two… one… we have primary motor ignition… we have liftoff."

* * *

**10:02 P.M.**

**December 31****st****, 2518**

**Houston City, the planet Houston  
**

Chuck and Kaylee strolled the streets of downtown. It had been awkward for a little while after they landed, but Kaylee opened up after about half an hour, and Chuck had been barely able to get a word in edgewise since.

"Never thought I'd celebrate the New Year in Texas," Chuck said when Kaylee paused to take a breath. "Let alone Texas on another planet."

"It's really something, isn't it?" she asked, still speaking with a little too much energy and enthusiasm. "I mean, I just love celebrating the New Year with locals on a planet, and Mal always insists that we go to a planet that was part of the Republic of Texas before the war, because he's from Texas, and Texans, well, they're just like that –"

Chuck laughed. "Some things never change, then. Texans are like that in my time, too – thinking Texas is God's gift to mankind."

"Aren't they just like that, though?" Kaylee asked, laughing along with Chuck. "My very first boyfriend – he was from a Texas planet. Thought he was just the greatest thing women had ever encountered. Maybe the greatest ego women had ever encountered, but that was about it."

"Captain Reynolds doesn't seem like that, though," Chuck said. "I mean, yeah, there was the whole 'Don't mess with Texas' bit, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who goes on and on about how everything's bigger in Texas."

"You've clearly never seen him drunk," Kaylee snarked.

* * *

**12:02 P.M.**

**Saturday, December 29****th****, 2007**

**In low-Earth orbit, currently over Texas**

"Ohhhhh…" Casey moaned. He was curled in a close approximation of the fetal position, clutching a barf bag.

Sarah felt bad for him, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit amused, too. Here was Casey, the big bad NSA agent, spacesick and miserable. She didn't say anything, though. She didn't feel like raising Casey's ire to provoke revenge when they were back in a gravity field.

"Alright, folks," Major Lorenz said. "We're getting ready to engage the jumper. I have no idea what it's going to feel like, so you definitely want to be strapped in."

"Check," Sarah replied.

"Aghghoohhh…"

"Casey says check, too."

There was silence for a moment, while Major Lorenz and his co-pilot, Captain Tweedum, USAF, worked on getting the jumper ready to go. Sarah looked out the window at the blackness of space. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she would ever be traveling through time and space. Being a CIA agent was crazy enough in and of itself.

"Alright, we're engaging the drive in ten seconds. Nine… eight…"

"Sarah… please… kill me now…" Casey moaned. "I will never touch a pork product again, I swear it."

"Three… two… one."

Major Lorenz pulled a red lever. All the light in the shuttle went silver. There was a moment where Sarah felt odd – like she didn't exist, almost. Then, the lights went back to normal, and they were in space. But the Earth was no longer present out the window. There was, however, a smaller, sort of Earth-looking planet, but much further away.

And then, a transmission came crackling over the radio.

"Unidentified spacecraft, this is Alliance cruiser _Columbia_. Release helm control and prepare for docking."

"What the hell?" Casey gasped. "What do we do now?"

"Well," Major Lorenz said, "I say we release helm control and prepare for docking, like they said."

"Oh like hell!" Casey snapped, color beginning to return to his face. "We can't do that!"

"We can, and we will," Lorenz said calmly. "I am the mission commander, and you will obey my orders as long as you are on this shuttle."

"Yeah, order this," Casey grunted, pulling his gun.

"Casey!" Sarah shouted. "Put your gun away!"

Casey shot her a sideways look of death, but complied.

"Our mission is to rescue Chuck. Maybe this Alliance can help us find him," Sarah said. "That transmission sounded American, so let's not get concerned just yet."

The _Enterprise_ was slowly pulled into a docking bay. Sarah could feel gravity return as they entered the _Columbia_'s gravity field.

When Major Lorenz opened the hatch, a voice from outside called over a megaphone. "Leave any weapons you have on the floor of your spacecraft, and exit the vehicle with your hands up!"

The two astronauts and the two spies complied. They were greeted by an individual who appeared to be an officer.

"Your vehicle is unregistered with Alliance control, you do not have proper identification, and your markings are years… no, centuries out of date."

He shook his head. "I don't know why I feel like my ship is being targeted by crazy people. I'm going to have to hold you until we can get this sorted out."

He looked directly at the four and addressed them. "You are under arrest for operation of an illegal mode of transportation. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you wish to waive these rights?"

Nobody responded directly, but Casey muttered, "They still Mirandize you in the 26th century?"

"Fine, then," the officer said. "Take them to the brig."

They were handled rather roughly through a set of corridors to a door that said, appropriately enough, brig. The door was opened, they were shoved inside, and the door was shut again behind them. And then, Sarah got the shock of a lifetime.

"Fancy meeting you here."

Sarah whirled around, unable to believe her ears. Yep, there was Bryce Larkin, sitting on a bench against the wall.

Casey groaned. "Aw, son of a bitch."

* * *

**11:52 P.M.**

**December 31****st****, 2518**

**Downtown Houston City, the planet Houston  
**

"The year's almost over," Kaylee said. "I can't believe another year's almost over."

"Oddly enough, I can say I understand what you mean," Chuck replied. "I left 2007 on Christmas Eve, arrived here on Christmas Eve, so it's not like I've added any time or missed any time."

"What did you do for last New Year's?" Kaylee asked.

"You know, I went to New York with my sister, Ellie, her boyfriend, Devin – well, we call him Captain Awesome – and my best friend, Morgan. We went to Times Square and watched the ball drop. It wasn't as cool as it always looked like on T.V., but it was still an unforgettable experience."

"I saw video of the ball drop once," Kaylee said. "It was from the last time they did it, on New Year's Eve 2199. In March of 2200, a gigantic hurricane practically wiped out New York City."

Chuck stopped short. "Wow. That… that's kind of lame."

"Yeah," Kaylee replied. "There's so many things from old Earth I wish I could've seen."

Sensing the conversation take a turn for the morbid, Chuck asked, "What did you do last New Year's?"

"Well," Kaylee said, "my friends Wash and Shepherd Book had both just been killed a couple weeks before, so I really wasn't in much of a partying mood. I got completely wasted to drown my sorrows, and woke up on the morning of January 2nd dehydrated and sick with a killer hangover."

Chuck just stared at her, mouth agape. "Um… um…"

Kaylee smiled. "It's okay. I get to spend this New Year's in a happy place with… well, with you."

Chuck smiled, and yes, even blushed a little himself. "Well, if I had to spend this New Year's out of my own time, I can't think of a place I'd rather be."

In the town square a block away, the music playing at the party there died away and an announcement was made that it was one minute to midnight.

"Did you ever figure you'd spend New Year's so far from home?" Kaylee asked him.

"I've never been any further away from home than New York for… well, anything," Chuck said. "So, I guess that would be a qualified 'no'."

"Talk about an interesting first experience!"

"_Thirty seconds!"_

Kaylee cast her eyes toward the ground. "You know," she said, her voice softening, "it's traditional, where I come from, that when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Day, you're supposed to kiss whoever you're with."

Chuck looked up at the sky. "Yeah, that's tradition where I'm from, too, although I didn't observe it last year – didn't really feel like kissing Morgan."

Kaylee laughed softly, then reached out and gently took Chuck's hand in her own.

"_Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five…"_

Chuck placed his other hand under Kaylee's chin and lifted her face to look at him.

"_Four… three… two… one…"_

Chuck leaned in to Kaylee, and she closed her eyes.

"_Happy New Year!"_


	7. Good Morning, and Good God

**January 1****st****, 2519**

**Alliance cruiser**_** Columbia**_

Captain Omar Yagosian was sure his ship was being invaded by the crazies.

He had in front of him three people claiming to be intelligence agents from the now-defunct United States of America – Sarah Walker, an agent with the Central Intelligence Agency, Bryce Larkin, also a CIA agent, who claimed he had been seconded to the National Security Agency, and Major John Casey, a United States Air Force intelligence officer who had also been seconded to the National Security Agency.

He didn't believe a damn one of them. "Here's why I don't believe any of you," he said. "First of all, the CIA ceased to exist over 200 years ago. Secondly, NSA agents always travel in pairs, and they always wear these weird blue gloves that can be manipulated to create any sort of fingerprint. You two who claim to be with the NSA arrived individually, and neither of you is wearing any sort of gloves."

He shook his head. "I'm not sure if you're all insane, or if you're spies, or rebels, or what. And how the hell did you get hold of a car and a space shuttle that are both more than 500 years old?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," Sarah said.

Captain Yagosian threw his hands in the air and exhaled the sigh of a frustrated man. "What am I supposed to do with you? The Geneva Conventions say I pretty much can't do a damn thing –"

He was interrupted by a lieutenant tapping his shoulder. He turned to face the lieutenant, who whispered in his ear and handed him a print-out. Captain Yagosian read over it. His right eyebrow arched in disbelief.

"Well… this was in the NSA archive," he said. "It's essentially a hunting license, issued to one Special Agent Bryce Larkin, with no ending date. It says here that you're authorized to hunt down insurgents and rebels attempting to breach national security, and that your authorized associates are… Agent Sarah Walker, Major John Casey, and Charles Bartowski. And… these pictures are definitely you."

He paused. "So where's this Mr. Bartowski?"

"We're looking for him," Bryce said. "He was kidnapped by an insurgent organization known as Fulcrum, and we're trying to recover him."

"I… see," Captain Yagosian said, still not sure whether or not he believed it. "Here's the thing. The three of you have birthdates listed in 1981, 1982, and 1974, respectively. That makes you all more than 500 years old."

Bryce, Sarah, and Casey all simply stared back at Captain Yagosian.

"I guess that would explain how you have the 1977 Pontiac and the space shuttle_ Enterprise_," he said. "Quite frankly, I'm still not sure whether to believe you… but Agent Larkin has a special sanction from the NSA, and I really don't have a choice in the matter."

He sighed. "I'll arrange for the Pontiac to be placed in the cargo bay of your shuttle, and I'll arrange to have it retrofitted with lasers and an identification computer.

"I'm not sure what you people are all about," he stated, giving them all a hard look, "but keep your noses clean, or you will be answering to me."

"Yes sir," Bryce said. "Thank you for your help."

Sarah stood and nodded. Casey stood and saluted. "Captain Yagosian," he said.

"Major Casey."

* * *

**10:58 A.M.**

**January 1****st****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Wakefulness slowly came to Chuck Bartowski. His eyes slowly opened, letting the light in. No headache, that was a good sign. He looked down…

And saw a mass of red hair resting on his chest.

Huh?

He peeked under the covers. He and Kaylee were both still fully clothed.

Chuck wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. Relieved, perhaps, because he had apparently had enough to drink that he did not remember winding up back in his quarters with Kaylee. Disappointed, perhaps, because, _well, duh_, he thought. _Who wouldn't be disappointed?_

Then a thought struck him. Sarah wouldn't be disappointed about it.

_You have to stop thinking that way_, he told himself. _You agreed to just be friends, not to mention which, you're in the 26__th__ century._

He tried to move gently, to avoid disturbing Kaylee. He was, however, unsuccessful, as she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

A little smile appeared on her lips. "Good morning," she said sleepily, but with a happy undertone.

"Good morning," Chuck said, unable to keep from smiling back at her. "How do you feel?"

"Not too bad, all things considered," she replied. "Umm… so, I don't remember… did we…"

"Not as far as I know," Chuck replied. "I don't remember anything much after about 1:00 AM… but we're both fully clothed, and none of my muscles are sore, so…"

"None… none of your muscles are sore?" Kaylee asked, confused.

"Oh, yeah, it's not an official 'Night with Chuck Bartowski' unless one of the two parties ends up with at least a minor injury."

"How about a 'Morning with Chuck Bartowski'? Does that involve injury?"

"What do you mean?"

By way of reply, Kaylee rolled over, swung her left leg over Chuck, straddling him, and leaned down, kissing him deeply. He responded in kind, and she moaned softly as his tongue invaded her mouth. His hands were roaming quickly up the back of her shirt when there was a knock on his door.

Kaylee pulled back and sat up. "Damn," she said disappointedly. But then, she got a look of mischief in her eyes.

Standing up, she mussed up her hair, and then shifted her jeans around a little to make it look like she had just put them on hurriedly. Crossing to the door, she opened it, to reveal Captain Reynolds.

He had opened his mouth to speak as the door opened, and his jaw just hang there, gaping, as he looked at Kaylee. "Morning, Captain!" Chuck called from his bed.

"What's the matter, Mal, cat got your tongue?" Kaylee asked playfully.

Finally finding the composure to close his mouth, Mal did so, and after a further moment, said, "You know, I'm gonna go… Chuck… uh, when you have a moment, I wanted to talk to… well, actually, both of you, about something… uh… yeah. See you in a few."

* * *

When Mal came onto the bridge, he still had a look of confusion on his face. Zoe turned to look at him, and noticed. "What's up, Mal?" she asked. 

"Well, I just stopped by Chuck's quarters to talk to him about doing some work on some of the computers… since that's what he did back in his time… and, well, Kaylee answered the door… and, um… well, there may or may not have been some hanky-panky going on in those quarters last night."

Zoe fixed Mal with an odd look. "Why are you so flustered about this, Mal? You've actually caught her in the act before! That's how she came to be on this ship!"

"Yeah, but that was before I knew her… and good Lord, she seems like my younger sister now… yeah."

Zoe just shook her head. "Yes, but little sisters grow up, Mal. And apparently, she chose… hmmm."

Picking up the microphone for the intercom, she keyed the switch and said, "Now hear this! Kaylee Frye has been observed in the romantic company of a man nearly 500 years her senior! Any further observed activities should be captured on video for potential blackmail purposes."

River turned in the pilot's seat and looked at Zoe. "Simon's not gonna like that."

* * *

Simon just lay in his bed, looking at the ceiling. "Eh, all's fair in love and war. I'd lift my glass to you, Chuck, if I had a glass or if you were here."

* * *

Chuck watched Kaylee worriedly. "You're not pissed, are you?" 

Kaylee turned and glared at him… and then her gaze softened as she almost giggled. "Oh, no. Zoe does this kind of thing all the time. I'll get her back later, trust me."

* * *

**2:07 P.M.**

**January 1****st****, 2519**

**Space Shuttle**_** Enterprise**_

The _Enterprise_ had lifted off from the _Columbia_ just a few minutes earlier. Captain Yagosian, true to his word, had retrofitted _Enterprise_ with laser cannons and a computer that would allow them to identify other ships. He had also loaded Bryce's Trans Am into the cargo bay and had a pressurized cell installed that would allow them to keep the Fulcrum man confined.

Major Lorenz and Captain Tweedum were back in the pilots' seats, though neither of them were in spacesuits this time. Sarah, Bryce, and Casey were riding in mission specialists' seats. Major Lorenz had expressed concern about bringing Bryce along, saying that his presence and that of the Fulcrum man would leave them with no spare spacesuits in the event of an emergency. "So don't have an emergency," Casey had growled, getting grumpy as his stomach started rebelling against zero G's.

Captain Yagosian had recommended they try going to the planet Persephone, saying that you could find out just about anything about anybody on that planet. So that's where the _Enterprise_ was headed. Major Lorenz keyed his microphone for standard approach frequency.

"This is shuttle_ Enterprise_ to Eavesdown Docks approach. We are requesting clearance for landing."

"Enterprise_, this is Eavesdown Docks. Are you a hovercraft or an aircraft?"_

"Eavesdown Docks, this is _Enterprise_. We are an aircraft and will require a landing strip."

"Enterprise_, you are cleared to land on runway 22 left. Please switch to frequency 191.7 for further instructions."_

"Eavesdown Docks,_ Enterprise_ copies."

"Apparently they still use standard VHF radio," Bryce remarked with some amount of surprise.

"They're humans, they're supposedly originally from Earth, and they're from a descendant government from the United States," Casey said. "It makes more sense than you seem to realize."

"Oh, can't we just get along, Casey?" Bryce said sarcastically. "Or is that too much for your military mind to handle?"

"We'll get along just fine when you're dead," Casey snapped back. "They say third try's the charm!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU," Sarah intoned angrily, shooting both men looks of death. "You are professional agents and you will by God cooperate."

"What, you think you're in charge now, Sarah?" Casey asked.

"Actually… yes. By the authority granted me by General Beckman at the start of this mission, I am declaring that both of you are unfit for command. I am taking command of this mission. You will both follow my orders, or I will stick my Taser so far up your ass –"

"Sarah, calm down," Bryce said in a soothing tone.

"Shut up, Bryce," she replied. "And so help me God, if you try to seduce me again, mister, I will kick your ass all the way back to the 21st century."

With that, Sarah looked forward and didn't say another word. After the shuttle had landed and come to a stop in the terminal area, she stood up, said, "Unload the Trans Am and meet me outside," and stormed down the stairway that had been rolled up to the shuttle door.

After she was out the door, there was an awkward silence, finally broken by Captain Tweedum. "Christ," he uttered.

"I do not envy you guys," Major Lorenz said, trying to keep a straight face. "Good luck."

"What, we don't get backup?" Casey asked.

"Sorry, buddy," Lorenz said. "You guys are on your own with Psychotic Agent Woman. Tweedum and I have to chase down supplies and make sure the heat shield is in good enough shape for the next time we come through an atmosphere."

Bryce and Casey looked at each other for a long moment. Finally, Bryce said, "Let's get the Pontiac unloaded and get out of here."

"Roger that."


	8. The Shiny Herder

**8:00 A.M.**

**January 2****nd****, 2519**

**planet Persephone**

John Casey and Bryce Larkin were both grumpy. Casey was grumpy because he was still feeling the after effects of an unfortunate amount of time in space, and Bryce was grumpy because Sarah had pulled rank on him and insisted that she drive.

And so she was driving, tear-assing through the streets of the city, weaving in and out of pedestrians, bicycles, and smaller vehicles. Bryce flinched every time they passed something, certain that some wayward piece of metal was going to scratch up his beloved Bandit Trans Am.

By the time they reached the central government office, Casey's face had lost most of its color, and Bryce was holding on to the armrests with a white-knuckle grip. When the car came to a stop, they were both out of the car like a shot. Sarah exited the car like an oncoming storm and blasted toward the front of the government building.

Casey pulled Bryce aside and whispered, "Just between you and me… it's gotta be that time of the month."

"I don't know," Bryce whispered back, "I've never seen her this bad before."

"I can hear you two assholes," Sarah shouted.

"I'm just not gonna talk anymore," Casey said to Bryce.

"Sounds like a plan."

And so, four hours later, they had still found nothing, searching through the government databases, when an older librarian-looking woman approached them.

"Excuse me," she said to Sarah, "did I hear that you were looking for information on a Charles Bartowski?"

"Yes," she snapped, "and this search has been completely unsuccessful. This is almost worse than the Internet."

"I'm very sorry," the older woman said. "But I do know that there is – or at least, there used to be – an artifact at the Museum of Ancient History that was addressed to a Charles Bartowski."

Sarah turned and looked at the older woman. "You're kidding," she said.

"Not at all. If you go over there, perhaps the curator can help you more with your search."

"Thank you so much," Sarah said. "Casey, Bryce, let's go!"

As they got in the car, Sarah's attitude seemed to have done a 180 from four hours before. "The letter survived!" she said, a smile spreading across her face. "And if it survived, it might have possibly found its way to Chuck!"

* * *

**11:59 A.M.**

**January 2****nd****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

River pulled open the panel underneath the navigation computer. "All the wiring for the computer is down here," she said.

Chuck slid under the panel. "Oh my God," River heard him say from below. "This is a nightmare."

"It's an old ship that's had a lot of field repairs," she replied. "You have to assume that there's going to be… well, challenges."

"I thought you were a genius or something, though," Chuck replied. "Can't you fix this?"

"Being a genius does not mean that I can work with electrical wiring," River replied with a hard edge to her voice. "And quite honestly, I take enough crap about the genius thing from the people who know me well."

Chuck slid out from under the panel. "I'm sorry. I really am. I'm just not used to seeing wiring this… unfortunate, that's all."

"Will you be able to improve it, though?" River inquired.

"Oh, sure," Chuck said. "This is what I do. I just need to go down to the cargo bay and get my tools and such out of the Herder."

"The Herder?"

"Oh, sorry," Chuck replied. "That's what I call the red and white car that I crashed in here in. The company that I work for, Buy More, has on-call technical people called the 'Nerd Herd', and the car is a company car, which the store calls Herders."

"I see. Well, I'll stay here and fly the ship."

On his way down to the cargo bay, Chuck passed by Zoe Washburne. She looked at him and practically giggled.

Chuck stopped. "What?" he asked. "You seem to find it funny that Kaylee and I are attracted to each other."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it," Zoe said, snorting back laughter. "It's just… you know, there is a 490 year age difference between the two of you."

"Well, excuse me," Chuck retorted indignantly. "I don't know if you've ever experienced it, but when attraction happens between two people, a lot of things cease to matt…"

His voice trailed off as the smile left Zoe's face, replaced by a cold expression. "Oh God," Chuck said. "Wash… Washburne… he was your husband, wasn't he?"

Zoe nodded, practically imperceptibly.

"Oh dear God," Chuck moaned. "I'm an idiot. I am so sorry… I wish I had made that connection when it would've kept me from being an insensitive ass."

Zoe sighed heavily. "Don't worry about it, Chuck… you couldn't have known… and it's been over a year."

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked worriedly. "I mean, I feel really bad now…"

"I'm sure," Zoe said with a small smile. "It's not your fault, but I forgive you anyway."

"Alright," Chuck said. He turned to head out of the mess, and as he reached the doorway…

"Now go get you some, boy!"

* * *

**12:22 PM**

**January 2****nd****, 2519**

**Persephone Museum of Ancient History**

"Ah, yes, the Bartowski Letter," the curator wheezed. "I remember it came into the museum when I was just four years old, back in 2381."

Sarah looked at Casey, and then back at the curator. "I'm sorry," she said, "did you say you were four in 2381?"

"Yes," the curator replied. "Why?"

"So that makes you 142 years old?" Casey asked.

"Yep, I'm an old man," the curator said. "Most men only live to be about 120, 125."

"Okay…" Sarah said. "Um, anyway. About the letter."

"Yes, the Bartowski Letter. Like I said, it came to the museum in 2381. However, a little over a week ago, a Companion came to the museum and said she'd found the person it belonged to… so, I gave her the letter and she took off with it."

"Companion?" asked Bryce. "Exactly what is a Companion?"

"And how exactly did she talk this letter out of you?" Sarah asked.

"A Companion is a space whore," the curator replied crassly. "And how do you think she got the letter?"

Sarah arched her eyebrows in disbelief and was about to say something, when Casey cut her off.

"What was her name?" he asked.

"Inara… uh, Inara… hmm… I've forgotten her last name. It starts with a C or an S or something. You can find her if you go to the Companions Guild, though."

"Then we'll do that," Sarah stated. "Where do we find the Companions Guild?"

"Their headquarters are on the planet Sihnon. It's impossible to miss – it's impossible to miss – it's one of the grandest structures ever built."

"And how far away is Sihnon?" Casey asked.

"Oh, it's about two weeks travel. Not bad at all."

* * *

**that same time**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Chuck walked into the cargo bay, pulling the keys to the Herder out of his pocket as he did so. He noticed that what was left of the windshield had been pulled out of its frame, but otherwise, it wasn't in bad shape – at least, cosmetically.

Then he noticed something else. The front end of the Herder was up on jacks, and… "That's a pretty nice looking set of legs sticking out from under my car!" he said.

Kaylee slid out from underneath the Herder. Her hair was messy, and she had grease on her face and hands, but she still lit up with a huge smile when she saw Chuck. "Hi there!" she said.

"So what's the prognosis on the Herder?" he asked.

"Well, your torque converter is pretty much toast, but aside from that, your transmission's shiny."

"Okay, what is it with that word?" Chuck asked. "That's the second time I've heard you use 'shiny'."

"Well, if something's good, but it's better than good, that's what we say. Why, what would you say?"

"Well," Chuck replied, "I'd probably use 'awesome' or 'great'. I'd use 'shiny' to describe something that had been polished and reflected a lot of light."

"Interesting," she said, mulling it over. "Well, anyway, I can definitely fix up the torque converter. If we can get a new piece of glass for the windshield, it'll be good as new!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Chuck said. "This particular Herder has been crushed by a truck, had its door and driver's seat blown off, and almost used to blow up a pier in Los Angeles."

"Wow…" Kaylee said. "This little car has had quite the history, hasn't it?"

"Oh, you better believe it," Chuck proclaimed. "It's the Herder that won't die."

"Shi- uh, awesome," Kaylee said, trying it out. "So, what brings you down here?"

"I just needed to get something out of the Herder," Chuck said. He pressed the tailgate button on the remote and popped it open as he approached the Herder. Opening the floor compartment, he pulled out his tool kit and a handful of zip ties.

He turned around, and discovered that Kaylee had snuck up behind him while he was getting his tools. She pulled him to her, and kissed him hungrily. He responded in kind, and dropped his tool kit and zip ties on the floor. He was about to pull Kaylee into the back of the Herder when there was a whistle from up above.

Chuck stopped and looked up to see Jayne Cobb leering at them from the catwalk. "Aw, come on, don't stop on my account!" Jayne complained.

Chuck looked at Kaylee, smiled, and shook his head. "I'm sure we'll continue this discussion another time," he said.

Kaylee smiled back, and without a word, lay down on her roller and slid back under the Herder.

* * *

**1:02 P.M.**

**January 2****nd****, 2519**

**Eavesdown Docks**

Lorenz and Tweedum heard the Trans Am before they saw it. The unmistakable sounds of squealing tires and a Chevy 350 small-block V8 echoed across the airfield, so they were completely unsurprised when Agent Walker power-slid the car to a stop in a cloud of dust..

"THAT'S IT!" shouted Bryce Larkin, as he popped out of the car. "You are NOT touching my car again, you crazy bi-"

"I wouldn't," Casey interrupted him. "She's liable to shoot you."

"Two weeks. TWO FUCKING WEEKS," Sarah fumed as she stormed up the stairway into the_Enterprise_.

Lorenz looked at Casey. "The hell?"

"Is the shuttle ready to go?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, the heat shield's fixed up, and we've got enough provisions on board for about a month… what was Agent Walker going on about with the whole 'two weeks' bit?"

"We have to go to a planet called Sihnon," Casey said to Lorenz. "It's in the computer that Captain Yagosian gave us. It's about two weeks' flight."

"Ah," Lorenz said. "Well. We're gonna get to know each other real well, aren't we."

"The fun never ends," Bryce said sarcastically. "We'll get the Trans Am loaded up if you'll get pre-flight started. We should probably get going before Sarah blows a blood vessel."

"Right," Major Lorenz said. "Well, let's get going."


	9. Across the Universe

**2:02 P.M.**

**January 16****th****, 2519**

**Eavesdown Docks**

"Transport _Serenity_, you are cleared for landing," the voice came.

"Copy," River replied. "Thank you."

"Welcome back to Persephone, _Serenity._"

As River touched_ Serenity _down, Chuck was down in the cargo bay, giving the Herder a once over. "Looks good as new," he said.

"Torque converter's been rebuilt, I changed out all the fluids, and I fueled her up with 97 octane petrol distillate," Kaylee said. "She should run like she's fresh off the showroom floor."

"Well, let's find out," Chuck said. Hitting the remote, he unlocked the doors. He opened the driver's door, slid behind the wheel and turned the ignition key.

The Toyota Yaris purred to life. Chuck shifted the transmission into drive and did a little donut around the cargo bay. "It's good!" he called out the open window, indicating his approval to Kaylee.

She smiled. "Where you headed, stranger?"

* * *

**planet Sihnon**

"This is shuttle_ Enterprise_ to Madrassa Approach, requesting clearance for landing," Major Lorenz said into the microphone.

"Enterprise_, this is Control. What's your business in Madrassa?"_

"We have two representatives of the National Security Agency here to speak with the Companions' Guild," Lorenz replied.

"Enterprise_, please hold."_

"That's weird," Sarah said. "This is the first time we've been asked to hold. I wonder what's going on?"

Bryce exchanged a look with Casey. Eight days prior, Bryce had begun spiking Sarah's food and drink with a sedative, to bring her down the angry high she'd been on since they left Persephone. She'd been much more pleasant since then. Everybody onboard _Enterprise_ had been far happier.

"Enterprise, _this is Madrassa control. Please land on runway 74 right and taxi to the VIP terminal."_

"VIP terminal, huh?" said Captain Tweedum. "Turns out that you NSA folks get a good reception no matter when you are!"

"Yeah, well, it's kind of preventing us from keeping a low profile, you know?" Casey said irritably.

As _Enterprise_ taxied to the VIP terminal, they could see out the window that a decent number of people had gathered to greet them, and…

"Is that a red carpet?" Bryce asked in shock.

As the stairway was rolled up to the side of _Enterprise_, Casey took a moment to open the door to the cell in the cargo bay. "You doin' alright in there, Fulcrum Man?" he asked with a caustic glee.

"The name's Mullins, you fucking prick," he spat. "And no! You're totally violating every part of the Geneva Convention here!"

"Too bad you're not an enemy combatant," Casey laughed. "You're a traitor!"

Casey slammed the door in Mullins' face and joined the rest of the crew going down the stairway.

* * *

**Eavesdown Docks**

As Chuck was about to drive the Herder down the cargo ramp and out into the city, River came running up to the car. "Chuck!" she yelled. "Chuck! Hold on!"

Chuck brought the Toyota to a stop and rolled down the window. "River? What's up?"

"Your communicator," she said, handing him his iPhone.

"It doesn't work," Chuck said, confused.

"Are you sure?" River asked, a smile on her face.

"I don't understand."

Just then, Chuck's phone rang. "What the hell?"

He pressed the "talk" button and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Chuck, this is Captain Reynolds," he heard. "Just wanted to make sure you had a working communicator."

"Yes, sir, thank you," Chuck replied. He hung up the phone. "How…"

"I modified the firmware," River said, pleased with herself. "It'd still work on your 'AT&T' network, too, whatever that is."

"See," Chuck said, "I knew you knew how to work with things like this." He gave her a smile, waved the phone at her, and smiled. Rolling up the window, he accelerated down the ramp and into the city. Turning to Kaylee, he said, "Betcha Steve Jobs never thought that was possible."

"Steve Jobs?" Kaylee replied. "As in Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of the Apple Computer company?"

"I beg your pardon?" Chuck said. "You know who Steve Jobs is?"

"Are you kidding?" Kaylee replied. "No Steve Jobs, no Apple. No Apple, no Blue Sun. No corporate support from Blue Sun, and the United States and China never woulda been able to form the Alliance."

"Well, I'll be damned," Chuck said, swerving to avoid a meandering donkey. "You should see what this thing can do."

He pulled out the stereo's spooled iPod dock cord and plugged it into the bottom of the iPhone. "Go through here, pick out a song. It operates by touch."

Kaylee looked at it, fascinated. "It's hard to believe this thing is 500 year-old technology," she said incredulously. "This is technology like what we got now!"

She scrolled through the music selection. "Who were the Bee Attles?"

"The who?" Chuck replied. "Wait – you mean the Beatles?"

"Spelled B-E-A-T-L-E-S?" Kaylee asked.

"Yeah, that's right. I can't believe you never heard of the Beatles! I mean, they were one of the most influential bands in the history of music!"

"You remember how I told you the United States government outlawed holidays?" Kaylee said. "Well, they kind of outlawed a bunch of music too. Believe me, it made a fierce comeback about twenty years later, but you have to search high and low to find anything that was written before about 2200."

"That sucks," Chuck said. "Seriously, though, the Beatles were great. Pick a song of theirs."

"Hmmm," Kaylee said, scrolling through the playlist. "This song looks strangely appropriate."

She tapped the iPhone with a nail, starting the song. John Lennon's voice poured into the car. "Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe."

"Across the Universe?" Chuck said. "Good song. Very good song. They actually made a movie based on the song. It's kinda trippy, but it- hey!"

Chuck swerved to the side of the road and brought the Herder to a stop. "What's going on?" Kaylee asked.

Chuck just pointed. _Earth-That-Was Antiques_, the sign on the store window said.

"Come on!" said Chuck, hopping out of the Herder. Kaylee followed, and Chuck hit the remote button to lock the doors.

* * *

**Companion House Madrassa, Sihnon**

"Mr. Larkin, Mr. Casey, Ms. Walker, sorry to keep you waiting," the woman said, walking into the room. "My name is Aimee Kuruppa. I am the director of this Companion House. I understand you're inquiring about a Companion?"

"That's correct," Sarah said. "We're looking for a companion, first name of Inara. We don't know her last name, just that it starts with a-"

"Inara Serra," Director Kuruppa said immediately. "One of my best pupils. May I ask why exactly the National Security Agency is looking for her?"

"Director, it's our understanding that she may be in possession of something that might lead us to another agent who has been abducted," Bryce replied. "She's not in any trouble or anything… we just want to ask her a few questions."

"Well, Inara rents a shuttle from a transport called _Serenity_," the Director said. "The last place she checked in was… Persephone."

"Persephone?" Sarah asked. Color began to rise in her face. "Persephone?!"

Sarah rose to her feet and began to stalk. "PERGODDAMNSEPHONE?!?!"

She stormed out of the room, leaving Bryce and Casey behind. "I'm sorry, Director," Bryce said. "We just came from Persephone, and it took two weeks to get here. She had cabin fever… and, well, PMS."

Director Kuruppa raised an eyebrow. "I've always found men to be rather poor judges of that."

She looked from Bryce to Casey and back again. "As much as you might hate to make the two week trip back to Persephone, that's your best bet to find_Serenity_, and therefore, Inara. The ship doesn't have a home port, but her captain seems to have an affinity for the planet."

Pausing, she turned her back to them, approached a cabinet and opened it. Removing a glass vial, she returned to Casey and handed it to him. "Tell me, has Ms. Walker been traveling with only men?"

"Four of us," Casey replied.

"Her body is overproducing estrogen to compensate," Director Kuruppa said. "This drug will cause her body to go back to producing normal amounts. She will probably be a calmer individual than what you have been experiencing lately."

"How often do we have to dose her?" Bryce asked.

"Just once," the Director replied. "Load the entire vial into a syringe, and shoot her up. She'll be fine for the next month."

* * *

**Earth-That-Was Antiques, Persephone**

"This is great!" Chuck laughed, as he played a Lady Pac-Man machine. "I can't believe this thing is still intact!"

"I love stuff like this," Kaylee said, showing Chuck an old boom box.

"A Sony boom box!" Chuck shouted. "I had one of those things… uh..."

He lowered his voice multiple decibels. "I had one of those when I was a kid," he whispered to Kaylee. "I thought I was soooo cool."

"Hey, look at this," Kaylee said, crossing to the music section. Chuck followed her to what looked like a file of secure digital memory sticks.

"Those are labeled the Beatles," Chuck said. "I don't believe it! That's the Beatles right there! But I can't read the Chinese – what does it say?"

"That one says 'The White Album', and that one says 'Let It Be'," Kaylee replied.

"Oh, those are two great albums," Chuck said, almost reverently. "You gotta buy those."

"I don't really have much money," Kaylee said sadly. "Otherwise…"

Chuck thought for a moment. He dashed outside to the Herder and was back inside of a minute.

Going to the counter, he plunked its Garmin GPS unit down in front of the cashier. "How much for this?" he asked.

The cashier picked it up. "My God," he said. "A genuine Global Positioning System unit. And in perfect condition! Where could you have possibly come by something like this?"

"It's a family heirloom," Chuck said. The cashier gave him a look. "Not a big fan of certain members of my family."

"I'll give you… I'll give you 1,000 credits for it," the cashier said. Behind him, Chuck heard Kaylee breathe, "Gorram, that's… wow."

"Okay," Chuck said. "I'll do it."

Ten minutes later, the cupholder of the Herder was 962 credits heavier. Chuck had bought the two Beatles albums as well as a copy of the movie _Across the Universe_ for Kaylee. "These look… these look just like Secure Digital Memory sticks," Chuck said, examining them closely.

Kaylee gave him a look. "That's actually… that's exactly what they are."

"But that's crazy!" Chuck exclaimed. "This is twentieth century technology!"

"Hey, if something works well, why change it?" Kaylee said. "_Serenity_ is practically an antique, but she's a sturdy old girl."

"You have something that can read these onboard?" Chuck asked.

"Of course," Kaylee replied. "I have all kinds of music – Beethoven, Mozart, Bach – old Earth classics. I have some movies, too, but they're all twenty-fourth century or later."

"Do you think there's a spare reader?" Chuck asked. "If there is, I can wire it into the car's stereo."

"You'd do that just for me?" Kaylee asked with a little smile.

"Well, I guess it'd be technically for me, since it's my car… but yeah, I guess it would be for you, too," Chuck said, smiling back.

"That'd be nice," she said softly. Leaning over, she kissed Chuck. She kissed him for a while, actually. It wasn't an intense kiss... but it was the kind of kiss that communicates every emotion a person has, leaving the totally vulnerable to the other. The kind that one never wants to end. Chuck gently placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her in closer.

When Kaylee finished, she pulled her head back, and stared into his eyes. "Chuck Bartowski… I know I've only known you for three weeks... but I do believe I'm falling in love."

* * *

**Madrassa Spaceport, Sihnon**

"HOW THE HELL CAN WE POSSIBLY NEED TO GO BACK TO PERSEPHONE?!" Sarah screamed. "WE JUST SPENT TWO WEEKS FLYING HERE FROM –"

"Oh, Jesus, shut up," Bryce said as he walked past Sarah. He jabbed the syringe into her thigh and pushed down the plunger, dumping the estrogen reducer into her blood.

"What the hell was… oh, I feel… hmmm…"

Casey caught Sarah as she collapsed to the ground. "We should've done this a long time ago," he said.

As _Enterprise_ took off from the Madrassa Spaceport, Mullins, locked back in holding cell, smiled evilly. The Fulcrum man had succeeded in working loose a sharp piece of plastic. Just a matter of time, now…


	10. Sarah Versus the Mechanic

**7:02 P.M.**

**January 22****nd****, 2519**

**Canton, Higgins' Moon**

Five days out of Sihnon, _Enterprise_'s pulse drive had suffered something of a mechanical failure. Though not enough to totally disable the shuttle, it was enough to cause the spacecraft to have to land and seek repair on the closest civilized rock.

There was no red carpet at the Canton Spaceport. In fact, the runway had barely been long enough for _Enterprise_ to land. Atmospheric entry had been particularly rough, enough for Captain Tweedum to express concern about whether they would be able to find adequate materials to properly patch the heat shield for their next planetfall. "I knew people on the _Columbia_," he had said quietly. "I don't want to end up like that."

As the shuttle door opened, a rather foul stench filled the cabin. "Ew," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, that's, uh, unpleasant," Casey said.

"Smells like fun!" Bryce replied.

Sarah gave Bryce a look, and then just shook her head. Ever since she had been administered the hormone balancing drug on Sihnon, Sarah had been much closer to normal than she had been for the prior two weeks. Bryce, on the other hand, was developing a rather severe case of cabin fever and had turned into a constantly silly person.

"He's gonna crash sooner or later, and I can't wait to see it," Casey muttered to Sarah as he departed the shuttle.

They had gone maybe a hundred yards from the shuttle when Bryce stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell is that?" he asked, staring at a statue.

Sarah and Casey joined him, and looked closely at the statue. "You know," Sarah said, "if I didn't know better, I'd say that was you, Casey!"

"Nah," Casey replied. "I don't have a goatee or a mustache. It's also not pretty enough."

Sarah cocked her head, a small disbelieving smile on her face. "Rather high opinion of yourself there, Major."

"Let it never be said that I thought I was ugly," Casey replied with a smile of his own. "That dude, though? Ugly with a capital Ug."

As the trio progressed further into town, a growing number of people pointed at Casey, whispering. A couple of locals were so bold as to actually come up to him and ask if he was Jayne.

"No, sorry, you have me confused with somebody else," Casey replied both times. After the second, he asked, "Who the hell is Jayne?"

"If I had to guess, Jayne is the guy the statue is of," Bryce said.

"Oh, fantastic," Casey growled. Sarah opened her mouth to remark on Bryce ending a sentence with a preposition, but then thought better of it. _I am such a nerd sometimes_, she though.

Five minutes later, Casey was wearing Sarah's ballcap and Bryce's sunglasses. The "disguise" kept people from approaching him, but it didn't stop the whispers.

"I may have to hurt somebody."

* * *

**transport **_**Serenity**_

**Eavesdown Docks**

_Serenity_ had been on Persephone for almost a week now. An interesting week it had been, too.

After Kaylee's proclamation that she was falling in love with Chuck, Chuck had freaked out a little bit. He had driven the Herder back to _Serenity_, dropped Kaylee off, and then driven off without so much as a good-bye. He ended up spending the night at a motel that was miles from the docks. Fortunately, with the credits he'd gotten for the Herder's GPS unit, he was able to do so in a motel that didn't scream of crime and prostitution.

Around 7:30 the next morning, Chuck's iPhone had started ringing.

"'lllo?" he slurred, dragged out of sleep.

"Good morning, Chuck," came the voice of Malcolm Reynolds, a hard edge to it.

_Oh shit,_ thought Chuck, coming fully awake. "Uh, good morning, Captain Reynolds," he replied.

"Mr. Bartowski, you've got about one minute to explain something to me before I take off and leave your ass on the godforsaken rock," Mal grated.

"Yes, sir?" Chuck asked.

"You can tell me exactly why Kaylee stormed through my ship in tears last night, locked herself in her cabin, and hasn't talked to anybody for over ten hours. If I don't like the explanation, then I'm going to send Jayne to find you and… well."

"No, no, there's no need for that," Chuck hastily stammered. "I can tell you what happened. We were at an Earth antiquities shop, Kaylee told me she thought she was falling in love with me, and I kind of freaked out a little. I didn't mean to hurt her, really I didn't, because I really, really like her a lot. It's just that being told that she was falling in love with me… well, I wasn't really ready for that."

There was silence on the other end. Mal was silent for so long that Chuck thought he had disconnected. Finally, he spoke again.

"Well," he said. "I guess… I guess I can understand that. But I think you still need to apologize to her, make it up to her somehow."

"You're probably right, Captain," Chuck replied, a note of relief in his voice.

"If I may make a suggestion," Mal said, "she's a big fan of sunflowers and strawberries. You might want to see if you can find some for her."

"Oka-" Chuck started, and then stopped. "Waaait… where am I supposed to find either of those here?"

"There's a monastery outside of town that grows both," Mal told him. "Go there, tell them that you're a friend of a friend of Shepherd Book, and they might be willing to help you out."

So Chuck had driven out to the monastery. When he had told them he knew Shepherd Book, they were more than happy to help him. A dozen sunflowers and a small wooden box of the ripest, reddest strawberries Chuck had ever seen later, he was on his way back to _Serenity_.

The reception he received back onboard was not exactly a pleasant one. River and Inara had both given him looks of death. Zoe had given him one look and shaken her head in disappointment. Simon had crossed his arms and stared at him. Jayne actually growled when Chuck passed him. Only Mal had given him so much as a sympathetic look.

"You didn't explain to them, did you?" Chuck muttered to Mal.

"Oh, no, it's far more fun this way!"

Reaching Kaylee's quarters, Chuck had knocked on the door. Getting no answer, he called out, "Kaylee?"

When there was still no response, he opened the door and ducked his head inside. No Kaylee.

The only other place Chuck could think of her being was the engine room. Heading there, he had to pass Jayne again. This time, Jayne had out a large and scary looking machine gun. He had stripped it down and was cleaning it, and growled at Chuck once more.

Shuddering, Chuck kept on to the engine room. Stepping inside, he had called out, "Kaylee?"

He had heard a metallic clang, and then something caught the glint of the overhead lights – a large wrench, on a ballistic trajectory aimed at him.

"Whoa!" Chuck yelled, stepping out of the way. "Come on, now!"

"YOU DROVE AWAY WITHOUT EVEN SAYING GOOD-BYE!"

The very angry voice of a very angry Kaywinnit Lee Frye echoed off the walls of the engine room and out into the ship. The noise perked up ears throughout the ship, and the crew started to gravitate toward the engine room to see what was going on.

"NOT ONLY DID YOU DRIVE AWAY –" Kaylee stopped to pick up another wrench. "- BUT YOU DID IT IN THE CAR THAT _**I**_ SPENT HOURS FIXING FOR YOU!"

The wrench came hurtling out from under the drive. Expecting this one, Chuck sidestepped it easily, but the clang it made as it crashed to the floor still rattled him.

"Kaylee," he began. "Look, I know. I'm an ass. I shouldn't have done that."

"Heh," he heard from behind him. Turning around, he saw the entire crew gathered in the doorway.

"No shit, Sherlock," Jayne snarked.

Chuck shook his head in disbelief. He set the sunflowers and the box of strawberries down, crossed to the door, and pressed the "close" button on the control panel. "Bye bye," he said with a fake smile, as the door closed on the crew.

When he turned around, Kaylee had come out from underneath the engine and was standing across the engine room from him, glaring. "You're damn straight you're an ass," she snapped at him. "I told you I was falling in love, and you kicked me to the curb."

"You're right, I did," Chuck admitted, "and that was horrible of me. I just don't do well with this kind of thing. I freak out when people tell me they like me. In your case, I freaked out because I really like you, a whole lot, and I was afraid that I was going to do something to screw it up. Which I seem to have done anyway."

Kaylee's glare softened. "So you didn't just dump me out at the ship because you don't like me?"

"Yeah."

"You kicked me out of the car and drove away because you really do like me and you were scared of screwing it up?"

"Pretty much."

"Chuck Bartowski…"

Kaylee paused, laughed a little, and shook her head. "That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Chuck said. Bending over, he picked up the sunflowers and the wooden box. "These are for you," he told her, holding out the sunflowers.

"I kind of figured that," she replied with a smile. "How did you know that I like these, though?"

"A little birdie told me," he said mysteriously.

"Yeah, a little birdie named Mal, I'm sure," Kaylee laughed. "What's in the box?"

Chuck didn't say anything, just slid the lid off. Kaylee looked inside and gasped. "Oh… my."

Without a further word, she flung her arms around Chuck, hugging him so tightly he thought she was trying to suffocate him. Setting the box of strawberries on the ground, he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know," she whispered back. "And I love you all the more for it."

She had squeezed him a little more, then released him, pulled back, and looked him right in the eyes. "But if you ever do something like that again, I'm going to find my biggest pair of pliers, and crush your balls."

Kaylee had delivered the line with such a straight face that Chuck actually had a momentary flash of fear, until her lips turned upward in a smile and she started to giggle.

That had been six days before. Kaylee had been extremely busy in the six days since, having discovered a problem with one of the drive converters when she was sulking beneath the engines. The repairs had taken the better part of each day, and each night, she was too exhausted to do much more than kiss Chuck good night, curl up to him, and fall asleep.

Chuck didn't mind. He was happy enough falling asleep each night with his arms around Kaylee. Happy enough, of course, until this night.

For some reason, on the night of the 22nd, Chuck's sleep was troubled. Dreams of the men from Fulcrum marching through the Buy More, wreaking havoc as they went. Dreams of Ellie and Awesome fighting for no good reason. Dreams of Morgan screaming at him, telling him how he hated him. Most chilling of all, dreams of Casey walking toward him, a gun aimed at him.

When Chuck opened his eyes, he was drenched in a cold sweat. He looked down – Kaylee was gone. He turned on the lights. The brightness hurt his eyes, but it also made it evident that Kaylee was nowhere to be seen.

Chuck heard the door opening, and he turned –

To see Sarah Walker entering the room. "Sarah?!" he gasped in surprise. "What… what…"

"I told you we were coming for you, Chuck," she replied. "Did you ever think we wouldn't?"

"No, of course not," he said, confused. "But… when did you get onboard?"

"Does it really matter?" Sarah said softly. "Aren't you happy to see me, Chuck?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "But, I just don't und-"

His words were cut off as Sarah's lips pressed against his. It was just like the kiss at the San Pedro docks, the kiss when she thought they were both going to die.

A little voice in the back of his head told him, _This is wrong, wrong, WRONG!_, but he told the little voice to shut up as he wrapped his arms around Sarah's back, drawing her closer.

Then the door opened again, and Chuck heard a gasp. Breaking the kiss with Sarah, he saw Kaylee standing in the doorway, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh God," he said. "Kaylee…"

"You total, utter bastard," she sobbed. "I can't believe I thought I was in love with you."

Turning away, she slammed the door. Letting go of Sarah, Chuck rushed to the door and yanked it open. He looked both directions down the corridor. Kaylee was nowhere to be seen.

"Chuck?" he heard Sarah say behind him. "What's going on? I thought you were happy to see me!"

Ignoring her, he called Kaylee's name. And again. No response.

"KAYLEE!"

And then Chuck snapped awake. He sat bolt upright in his bed.

His quarters were dark, and Kaylee had woken up when he screamed her name. "Chuck?" she asked, her voice filled with concern. "Are you alright?"

Chuck didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arms around Kaylee and pulled her to him. He sat there holding her for a few minutes, and when he let go, he pulled back a little, looked her in the eye, and said, "Kaylee, don't ever let me do anything to hurt you again, okay?"

She smiled at him. "I don't think you will, Chuck."

Kissing him gently, she said, "Now go back to sleep. It's something like two in the morning."

Chuck's dreams were pleasant for the rest of the night.

* * *

**7:42 A.M.**

**January 23****rd****, 2519**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

**departing Canton, Higgins' Moon**

Casey had spent most of the night convincing people he wasn't Jayne Cobb. However, when he found out that Jayne Cobb was on the same transport as Inara Serra, his attitude changed. He was able to find out that _Serenity_ was still on the planet Persephone, and that they were likely to be there for a few more days.

When they returned to the shuttle, Sarah had informed Major Lorenz that if he could get more power out of the engines, they needed it. She was insistent that they get to Persephone as quickly as possible.

Her sleep that night had been troubled. She kept dreaming that she saw Chuck, but when she tried to call his name, she either couldn't make any noise, or he didn't hear her, or he was too far away. In the worst dream of all, however, she called his name, he turned and looked directly at her, and then put his arm around a red-headed girl and walked away from Sarah.

That morning, Sarah was unusually quiet. After the shuttle had lifted off, she went back to the crew rest area. Bryce found her there, half an hour later, running on the treadmill.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Sarah replied shortly.

"Yeah, crap," Bryce replied. "I know you too well for that. There's something going on."

Sarah sighed in frustration. "Have you ever been completely attracted to somebody, and known that it was such a bad idea, but had your brain get completely overridden by your heart?"

"Yeah," Bryce said. "You."

Sarah hit the stop button on the treadmill and turned to stare at Bryce. "**I** was a bad idea?!"

"Yep," Bryce replied. "Believe me, you were great, but it was an accident waiting to happen. If you hadn't thought I had died, I think bad things might have happened."

"What the hell?!" Sarah said. "What could possibly have made you think that?"

"I don't know," Bryce stated. "It was just a feeling. But you know… why are we talking about me? You're talking about Chuck here, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" Sarah asked, unsuccessfully trying to sound nonchalant.

"Well," Bryce began, "I am fairly highly regarded as an intelligence officer. It was pretty simple to figure this out. The way you look at him, the way you talk about him, the way you reacted when I shot him… you really like the guy."

Sarah blew out her breath in frustration. "Yeah, well, the dreams I had last night didn't help."

Sarah proceeded to tell Bryce about her dreams about Chuck, including the last one. "Red headed girl?" Bryce said. "His name is Chuck Bartowski, not Charlie Brown.

"Anyway," he said, "I thought you guys agreed to be friends. What are you gonna do if Chuck does find somebody else he likes? Shoot Chuck? Shoot the girl?"

"Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind," Sarah said darkly.

"Okay, you know, this is part of why I started to think we were a bad idea," Bryce said. "You can't control everything."

Bryce turned to leave, but stopped before he walked out the door. "You're a good person, Sarah," he said. "Chuck's a good person, too. And yeah, he's your assignment. But you've got to let him live his life."

With that, he float-walked out the door, and Sarah was alone once more.


	11. An Inconvenient Truth

**1:17 P.M.**

**Feburary 3****rd****, 2519**

**Utopia Planitia Shipyard, Persephone**

"This is a total cluster-fuck," Sarah muttered under her breath. Casey turned to look at her. "Well, it is!"

"Yeah, maybe you voice your opinions after we're safely on the ground," Casey grumped.

Not that it wasn't a total cluster-fuck. Sarah was completely right on that account.

When _Enterprise_ left Higgins' Moon eleven days prior, it had been with an order from Sarah to crank the pulse drive up to maximum safe output so that they could reach Persephone in three or four days rather than eight or nine and hopefully catch _Serenity_ before she left the Eavesdown Docks.

However, about a day out of Persephone, the pulse drive had had a partial failure, and so _Enterprise_ was left at maybe a quarter capacity of normal drive ability. The final day to Persephone had ended up taking five days.

To make matters worse, atmospheric entry at Higgins' Moon had done more damage than usual to the heat shield, and Major Lorenz and Captain Tweedum hadn't been able to do all the repairs they would've liked. So now, after atmospheric entry on Persephone, the heat shield had been massively damaged, with superheated plasma doing a real number on the trailing edge of the wings and making steering difficult at best.

Major Lorenz had clearly overheard Sarah's comment. "You're lucky we aren't dead, Agent Walker," he growled out through gritted teeth. "Don't you remember _Columbia_? Superheated plasma got into the wing and she broke up over Texas?"

"Yes, Major, I remember _Columbia_," Sarah said. "I'm not saying this is your fault. I'm just saying that it's the confluence of a bunch of fucked-up events! It's a classic definition cluster-fuck!"

But Major Lorenz was no longer listening. "Shuttle _Enterprise_ to Eavesdown Docks, do you copy?"

"Enterprise_, this is Eavesdown Control. Go ahead?"_

"Eavesdown Control, we have major structural damage and drive failure. We require a field with full overhaul capability and a runway at least three miles long."

"Enterprise_, this is Eavesdown Control. Please turn to a heading of one-four-seven and contact Utopia Planitia Shipyards on 219.7."_

"Eavesdown Control, _Enterprise_ copies."

While Captain Tweedum was changing the frequency on the tactical radio, Bryce was musing in the back of the cockpit. "Utopia Planitia? Either somebody liked Mars, or somebody was a Trekkie."

"Angels and ministers of grace defend us," Casey said, rolling his eyes. His spacesickness wasn't nearly as bad as it had been at the beginning of the mission, but it still made him plenty irritable.

"Utopia Planitia Shipyards, this is shuttle _Enterprise_," Major Lorenz said into his microphone. "Declaring an airborne emergency, requesting immediate clearance to land."

"Enterprise_, this is Utopia Planitia. Say your situation?"_

"Space shuttle, five souls, major structural damage, drive failure. Require at least 15,000 foot strip."

"Enterprise_, this is Utopia Planitia. You are cleared for immediate landing on runway 7 left."_

"_Enterprise_ copies."

The _Enterprise_'s altitude had dropped to less than 10,000 feet. She was screaming in at just over Mach 1 when the pulse drive cut out completely. "Oh, shit," uttered Major Lorenz. "Engines are gone."

"Fire the retros," Captain Tweedum said immediately. "That'll give us enough thrust to keep altitude till we reach the airfield."

"The retro rockets haven't been fired since we took off from Earth," Lorenz snapped. "We have no idea if the fuel is still stable, we have no idea if the engine nozzles were damaged on re-entry. We could blow the back end of the shuttle off. If the back end of the shuttle goes, the pulse drive goes, the jumper goes, and we're totally screwed."

"If we DON'T fire the retro rockets, we crash into a populated area and kill thousands of people," Tweedum retorted. "I think it's a pretty simple choice, don't you?"

Lorenz was silent for a moment. "Fire the retros," he ordered.

Tweedum flipped a few switches. "Here we go," he said.

He flipped one more switch, there was a roar from the back of the shuttle, and the shuttle shot forward. Lorenz grabbed the control yoke and yanked_ Enterprise _skyward. Tweedum thrust both fists into the air.

By this time, though, _Enterprise_'s altitude had dropped to under two thousand feet. As she shot forward at just under Mach 2, a gigantic sonic boom rippled across the Eavesdown Docks. Windows shattered and a tidal wave blasted across a lake by the docks.

Lorenz pulled power back as much as he could, but _Enterprise_ still crossed the edge of the Utopia Planitia Shipyard at just over 300 miles per hour. With no flaps to deploy, the only braking method the shuttle had was its wheel brakes and parachutes. If Lorenz deployed the parachutes before touching down, _Enterprise_ would flip out of control and crash in a ball of fire.

So, using his only remaining option, he cut the retros entirely. _Enterprise_ dropped like a stone as she lost speed down to 220 miles per hour. "Brace for impact!" Lorenz bellowed to the crew.

Sarah, Casey, and Bryce all braced and closed their eyes as they prepared for _Enterprise_ to hit the ground – but, instead of a wrenching impact, they were rewarded with the sweet sound of rubber tires on concrete.

Lorenz's head snapped up. "Deploy the chutes!" he yelled. Tweedum grabbed the lever, and the parachutes shot out the back end of the shuttle. _Enterprise_ decelerated rapidly, and there was another squeal as the nose gear touched down.

Lorenz and Tweedum both stood on the gear brakes. The drag was immediately felt as_ Enterprise_ slowed. As she slowed to a stop, Sarah looked out the window and saw a hovercraft. It was painted red, had flashing lights on top, and water cannons pointed at _Enterprise_. The water cannons fired at her back end as she stopped.

All five of them stayed in their seats for a moment. "Nobody's ever gonna believe this one," Tweedum said in a small voice. "Never."

A motor was heard as a stairway was wheeled to the door. On shaky legs, Lorenz got out of his seat, went to the door, and opened it. The other four unbuckled and followed him to the door. As they exited, the emergency personnel surrounding the shuttle started clapping.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, though, Lorenz turned and looked at the back end of the shuttle.

"Oh God."

* * *

**February 4****th****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

**planet Bellerophon**

When _Serenity_ left Persephone, she had done so with a cargo bay full of brand new, albeit pirated, computer mainframes, phones and parts. She headed to Bellerophon, Chuck having been given the mission to install the computers in the main government offices.

On the way to Bellerephon, Chuck sat down with the entire crew one night and told them the whole story of how he came to be where he was. Kaylee already knew most of the story, but for the rest of the crew, he went all the way back to his first days at Stanford, when he met Bryce, up to getting expelled, to having the Intersect implanted in his brain, to falling for Sarah, to running into Fulcrum, and finally, to getting involuntarily sent to the 26th century.

"So you know one of Jayne's ancestors?" Zoe asked in disbelief. "That's madness!"

"Oh, I know it," Chuck said. "And by the way, the National Security Agency – they weren't a bunch of bad guys back in my time."

"Yeah, well, they're responsible for years of horrible, torturous experiments on my sister," Simon said. "So you'll forgive me if I'm not a real fan of them."

"I understand," Chuck replied. "But John Casey's a good man. He's a bit… primitive… sometimes, but he's still a good man. He's saved my life more than once."

Of course, they had all wanted to know what Earth was like. He told them mostly stories about the Los Angeles area – about how in the winter, you could stand just south of downtown Los Angeles, look up, and see the skyline against the backdrop of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains. He told them about Hollywood, he told them about the traffic in the Sepulveda Pass.

Mal wanted to know more about LAX. Zoe wanted to know about the different museums. Simon wanted to know about Cedars-Sinai Hospital, River wanted to know about USC. Kaylee wanted to know about (of all things) South Coast Plaza.

Jayne wanted to know more about the Playboy Mansion and Hugh Hefner.

So now, two days after story night, Chuck was lying on his back in an office on Bellerophon, installing a brand new computer and telephone system. "Five hundred years, and computers STILL run an operating system called Windows," he bitched. "If Apple was Blue Sun's predecessor, why the hell is the operating system Windows and not Apple OS?"

"Huh?" Jayne asked. Chuck had asked for Kaylee to accompany him – for help physically install the computers, and Mal had acquiesced – but he'd also insisted that Jayne go along, for "security" purposes.

"Whatever," Kaylee had scoffed. "You just don't want us gettin' it on on taxpayers' time."

Chuck and Jayne had both blown mouthfuls of coffee across the room at that.

"Never mind," Chuck said to Jayne, returning to the present. "It's just an IT thing."

"Hey Chuck," called Kaylee from across the room, "I need to run down to the lav."

"That's cool with me," Chuck replied. "Perhaps more than I needed to know, but that's okay."

After Kaylee had left the room, Jayne crouched down by Chuck. "So… you two… you, uh, made the beast of two backs yet?"

Chuck tried to sit up, and smacked his head into the bottom of a shelf. "Ow!" he yelled. "Son of a bitch!"

He slid out from under the shelf and rubbed his forehead. "The beast of two backs? I haven't heard that since I was in middle school," he said. "Besides which, it's none of your gorram business."

Chuck stopped himself. "I just said gorram, didn't I?"

"Yes you did!" Jayne laughed. "You're becoming one of us! Also, you told me it was none of my business, which means you two ain't done shit."

"And how could you possibly know that?" Chuck replied, indignant.

"Because you're a man," Jayne said. "If you had tapped that, you'd be braggin' about it to every man you came across."

Chuck shook his head. "Right," he muttered, sliding back under the shelf.

"You haven't, have you?" Jayne asked.

"Shut up, Jayne."

* * *

**11:02 A.M.**

**February 5****th****, 2519**

**City of Utopia, Persephone**

Sarah lay in the bed in her hotel room, the frustration fraying on her last nerve. "I can't believe this," she groaned.

Bryce looked at Casey. "That's about the hundredth time you've said that in the twenty-four hours," Casey snapped. "We get it!"

"I know you get it, Casey," Sarah replied in an acid voice. "But given that_ Enterprise_ is out of commission for the next ten days, and there is a Fulcrum man in a jail the security of which is questionable – AT BEST – I think I'm entitled to be a little grumpy. Don't you?"

And _Enterprise_** was** out of commission. Her pulse drive was totally wrecked. The heat shield had to be completely replaced, and the trailing edge of the wings had to be completely reconstructed. Fortunately, Bryce's special warrant from the NSA had given him _carte blanche_ at the Utopia Planitia shipyards. The shipyard director had assured him that the repairs would be billed directly to the Alliance, and that _Enterprise_ would lift off from Persephone no later than February 13th.

Nonetheless, the waiting game had Sarah on the verge of craziness. They had been in this time for a month and a half now. They had been from Persephone to the Core Planets and back. Sarah had spent 39 days – and counting – around four men all the time.

And the dreams had continued. Dreams of Chuck walking away from her. Dreams of Chuck with that red-headed girl. And other dreams that had started lately – dreams of Casey, walking toward Chuck, a gun aimed at him.

"Look," said Bryce. "Casey and I are going to go check on the prisoner. Why don't you go do something you enjoy, Sarah. The hotel has a full spa, you might as well take advantage of it."

With that, Bryce and Casey left Sarah's room. She turned and stared at the comm system for several moments. Finally, she sighed and pressed the button for the spa.

"Utopia Spa and Therapy Center."

"How much for a massage and a mani/pedi?"

* * *

**11:58 A.M.**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

**planet Bellerephon**

Chuck staggered out of bed just before noon. He made his way to the mess hall.

"Well good morning sunshine!" Mal said cheerily. "Hard night?"

"I was up till almost 4:00 getting the network up," Chuck groaned. "You could say it was a hard night."

Mal was visibly disappointed. "And here I thought you were up having fun," he complained.

"Sadly, no," Chuck replied. "That would've been nice. Coffee?"

"Over there," Mal said, pointing. He looked at Chuck for a moment. "You and Kaylee… you two haven't… well… you know."

"Had sex?" Chuck finished for him, getting himself a cup of coffee and collapsing in a chair. "Not that it's necessarily any of your business… but, well… no."

"I really don't get it," Mal replied. "You two are all over each other when you're together, but you haven't sealed the deal?"

"It's okay," Chuck said. "I like her enough that it really isn't that big a deal to me, although I will grant that I don't understand it either."

"It's because she's scared," came Inara's voice, as she came through the door. Inara followed her voice into the mess hall, and she took a seat at the table with Chuck and Mal.

"Kaylee really likes you, Chuck," Inara said. "And I mean, REALLY likes you. She has fallen in love with you, no question. I've never seen her like this with anybody else, not even when she was totally infatuated with Simon.

"But she's scared. She's scared that if she has sex with you, you'll stop looking at her as a girl who you like right back, and start looking at her as a sex object."

"That's ridiculous," Chuck protested. "I'd never do that."

"You know that, and I know that," Inara said.

"I don't necessarily know that," Mal said. "No using my crew as sex objects, Mr. Bartowski."

"The point is," Inara continued, "Kaylee doesn't know that either. She's scared of going too far and losing the relationship she has with you now, which is quite frankly the most fulfilling relationship and even friendship I've seen her have since we've been on this ship."

She paused. Chuck looked at her, and said, "That's not all, though, is it?"

Inara looked him in the eye, then sighed. "No, it's not.

"She knows that there's a good chance you're not going to stay. She knows that there's a good chance that someday, your people from the 21st century are going to show up, and you're going to leave. She's afraid that if she gets in too deep, then when that happens, it's going to break her heart."

"They might not ever come," Chuck replied. "I don't know that they have the technology to do so."

"But what if they do, Chuck?" Inara asked. "What are you going to do then?"


	12. Valentine's Day

_**Warning: this chapter includes content that may not be appropriate for younger readers.**_

_**Reader discretion is advised.**_

* * *

**1:25 P.M.**

**February 13****th****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Chuck had a plan.

Contrary to what Jayne and Mal both thought, it was not a plan to get laid. It was simply a plan to make Kaylee happy.

Of course, he still hadn't answered the question Inara had asked him – to her, or to himself – what was he going to do if his people from the 21st century showed up?

He pushed the thought from his head. He had his hand buried deep in the guts of the Herder, back behind where the stereo head unit would ordinarily be.

Almost a month prior, he had told Kaylee that he would wire up a SDM card reader to the Herder's stereo so that they could listen to music on modern media when they were in the card. That is what he had finally gotten around to doing.

Not that he hadn't been doing better things with his time. He had rewired almost every computer-controlled system on _Serenity_, cleaning up the awful tangles of wires and making them run more efficiently to boot. _Serenity_ was probably in the best shape, electrically, that she'd been in since Mal had bought her.

As he slid the Herder's head unit back into its slot, his iPhone rang. Stretching his arm across to where he had left it on the other side of the dashboard, he hit the answer button and then the speaker button. "Yo!"

"Chuck, this is Inara."

"Hi, Inara!" Chuck said. "How's it goin'?"

"I am going to be arriving back at _Serenity_ in about forty minutes," she replied. "I've got the things you asked me for."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you," Chuck gushed. "I can't thank you enough for getting all that for me."

"Well, I was going to be on Persephone anyway, so I was happy to help," she said. "And if it makes Kaylee happy…"

"…which it will," Chuck said. "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it."

"No, seriously," Chuck insisted. "I've got six hundred plus credits burning a hole in my pocket."

"Chuck," Inara said with a laugh, "you don't owe me anything. I'm happy to help you out. I think it's cute."

"Well, okay," Chuck said reluctantly. "If you insist."

"I **do**," Inara replied. "There better not be any money that mysteriously shows up in my shuttle, either."

"I can't promise you anything," Chuck laughed. "So, just watch out to make sure those sneaky gremlins don't leave any credits in your shuttle."

"Riiight," Inara replied. "I'll see you in a few."

Chuck hung up the phone and finished screwing the head unit's anchor screws back into the Herder. He popped the trim frame back on, and, satisfied with his work, popped the hood. He got out, reattached the battery, and sitting back down in the driver's seat, flipped the key over to accessories. The stereo fired right up.

Chuck opened the glovebox. After idiotically kicking Kaylee out of the car a few weeks earlier, he had returned to the Earth-that-was shop and bought a bunch of old music SDM cards – Elvis, AC/DC, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, The Ataris, Maroon 5, Switchfoot – all music that he thought Kaylee should get to experience.

Selecting the Ataris' "So Long Astoria," he slipped it into the SDM reader, and was greeted by the opening electric guitar riff of the title track, which he quickly shut off before the rest of the band kicked in. It appeared to work just fine, and that was very good.

Chuck got back out of the Herder, shut the door, and closed the hood. Smiling, he headed out of the cargo bay. He still had some work to do.

* * *

**2:15 P.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

**Utopia Planitia Shipyard, Persephone**

After ten days,_ Enterprise_ was finally ready to go. Sarah had been at the shuttle before Major Lorenz or Captain Tweedum got there. She was up in the cockpit while they were doing pre-flight, ostensibly working on her report of the whole mission, but in reality, trying to subconsciously encourage Lorenz and Tweedum to do pre-flight as quickly as they could.

At about 2:30, Casey and Bryce showed up, in the company of two Alliance soldiers, who were guarding Mullins, the Fulcrum man. He was cuffed, but once he was led up into the shuttle and then into his cell, Casey told them to uncuff him – after all, he was going to be locked up.

As Casey turned to head back into the shuttle, the door to the cell swung shut behind him. Mullins, moving quickly, slid his sharpened piece of plastic out from under the bed, and slid it between the door latch and the strike plate. As the door closed, it looked like it was fully shut and locked, but in reality, Mullins could get out with ease. He was going to wait, though. He would wait until _Enterprise_ was far enough out in space that no Alliance goons could show up to answer a distress signal.

"Okay, so we've got a transponder code for _Serenity_ now," Major Lorenz said. "I'm told that it's actually illegal for any ship other than Alliance cruisers to be in possession of those, but Agent Larkin's warrant there apparently goes a long way."

"Thank you, thank you," Bryce said, faking a bow.

"We've got a position for them," Lorenz continued. "It's about two days' travel from here."

"Well, then, by all means, let's go!" Sarah insisted. She was getting a little antsy. If they could find this Inara Serra woman, she could almost certainly tell them where Chuck was. Maybe he was even onboard this_ Serenity_ ship!

"_Enterprise_ to Utopia Planitia Control," Lorenz radioed.

"_Go ahead,_ Enterprise_."_

"Requesting clearance for takeoff."

"_Clearance granted. Safe sailing, _Enterprise_. No offense, but we don't want to see you back for repairs for a while."_

"Thank you, Utopia Planitia. We'll try to not fall apart."

With clearance granted, Captain Tweedum pushed the throttle level up to full. The pulse drive purred to life – in considerably better condition than it was even when the mission started – and _Enterprise_ leapt forward. Major Lorenz lifted her off the runway fairly quickly, and she was on her way again.

_We're coming for you, Chuck_, Sarah thought. _We'll see you soon_.

* * *

**6:30 P.M.**

**February 14****th****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Kaylee was down in the engine room, sitting in her hammock and reading a book. There was nothing wrong with the engines, nor did she anticipate there to be, but she had found it wise to stay with the engines when _Serenity_ was crossing open space.

Snape had just sent Dumbledore tumbling from the paraments of Hogwart's with the _avada kevadra_ curse when Kaylee's reading was interrupted by the intercom. "Kaylee, please come to the control room," Mal's voice sounded over the intercom.

Setting her book down, Kaylee headed for the bridge. As she passed through the mess, she totally failed to notice the flurry of movement behind her.

Reaching the bridge, she found the remote control for the Herder, next to a small note that was pinned to… a fresh strawberry?!

Picking up both the remote and the strawberry, she removed the note, and popped the fruit into her mouth. "Mmmm," she moaned as the sweetness hit her tongue. Kaylee then turned her attention to the note.

"You learned about an ancient holiday awhile back," the note said. "Now it's time to take a holiday adventure.

"Push the button, and follow the yellow brick road."

Kaylee pushed the door unlock button on the remote. No luck. Neither with the door lock button, or the tailgate button. So she hit the panic button –

And a series of yellow lights, shaped like bricks, lit up along the floor, headed out of the control room.

Kaylee followed the lights back out of the control room, and down the hallway. They stopped in front of the doorway to her quarters, with the last one shaped in an arrow pointed toward her quarters. With a confused look, she opened the door to her quarters and headed down the ladder.

* * *

As soon as Kaylee's door swung shut behind her, River dropped silently from the position she had been holding herself in, arms and legs braced against the walls, just below the ceiling. 

Reaching in the bag she was holding, she grabbed sunflower petals, and ran down the hallway, scattering them every which way as she headed toward Inara's shuttle.

* * *

When Kaylee descended to her quarters, she found something that made her draw her breath in sharply. 

There was another note pinned to a strawberry, but that wasn't it. What surprised her was the slinky little strapless black cocktail dress hanging where her big pink frilly dress usually was. "Wow," she breathed.

Picking up the note, she ate the next strawberry. God, those were good. "Only women of good taste can wear a dress such as this," the note said. "Picked by one woman of good taste for another. Dress yourself up, and then remember: the flowers are your friend."

Quickly shucking her coveralls, Kaylee soon discovered herself dressed in the engineer's new clothes. Looking in the mirror, she quickly did what she could with her hair. Stepping back, she admired herself fully.

"God DAMN I look good," she said to herself. Then, she realized that she had just said goddamn. "That boy is really getting to me," she breathed.

Then she looked down. A pair of black heels that couldn't be described in any way other than "sexy". "No way I'm climbing up the ladder with those on," she said to no one in particular.

Kaylee climbed up the ladder barefoot, and when she reached the hallway, slipped the shoes on. Then she realized there was a trail of sunflower petals leading down the hallway. "The flowers are your friend," she breathed softly.

She followed the sunflower petals to the door of Inara's shuttle. She was about to knock, when she saw the note on the door: _Come in, Kaylee_.

Pushing the door open, she found the shuttle empty, save for another strawberry with a note pinned to it, and an SDM card. "I round up the nerds," she read, popping the strawberry into her mouth. "Come play your music in me."

_I round up the nerds?_

"Oh, of course," she said. "The Herder… for the Nerd Herd!"

She headed back out of the shuttle, and Inara popped up from behind her bed. "Okay, she just left the shuttle," she whispered into her headset.

"Excellent," she heard back. "This is awesome."

When Kaylee entered the cargo bay, she saw the Herder parked in the middle of the floor, rather than in its usual spot. She approached it, and then…

"Oh, damn," she muttered, "I left the remote in my quarters."

No sooner had she said that than the headlights of the Herder blinked, and the horn beeped briefly. "Oh," Kaylee said. She approached the Herder and tried the driver's door – unlocked.

Another strawberry, note pinned to it, was sitting on the armrest in the middle. "God, I love these things," she murmured, popping it into her mouth, as she read the note.

"A confession on a dashboard," the note said. "When the time comes, just say hello."

Sitting down in the driver's seat, she found the keys in the ignition. She turned them to accessories – and then saw the little SDM reader mounted on the dashboard. Her face broke into a big smile. "He finally did it!" she squealed with glee.

She slipped the SDM card into the reader. A song she hadn't heard before poured from the speakers.

She listened intently to the words. It sounded like it might be a romantic song, talking about the last weekend of the season and so on. However, she definitely realized the point of the song when it reached the chorus – a simple five word phrase communicated its theme.

"_You have stolen my heart, you have stolen my heart."_

A smile spread across her lips, and her eyes began to fill with tears. Just as they were about to spill over, she heard something warble, and the music automatically cut out.

Looking down, she realized that Chuck's iPhone was docked in the car. "I don't know how to answ- oh, okay," she said, realization of the meaning of the note dawning on her.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Kaylee," Mal's voice said.

"Mal?" Kaylee was confused. "Yours was certainly not the voice I expected to hear."

"Kaylee, I am ordering you to take tomorrow off," Mal responded. "Tonight as well. In fact, right now, I want you to go to the crew mess."

"Uh, okay," she replied. "I'll do that right now."

"Good," Mal said. "Make sure you turn the car off and take the phone with you."

"Will do," Kaylee said.

So, she turned off the Herder, grabbed Chuck's phone, stepped out of the car, and shut the door behind her. Heading back toward the front of the ship, she entered the crew mess –

And it looked like it never had before. Two plates, set directly across from each other, a bottle of wine on the table, a bouquet of sunflowers in the middle of the table, two candles burning – and Chuck in a suit and tie.

"Oh, wow," she breathed. "This is… wow. Just wow."

Chuck crossed the room to Kaylee. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said, then put his arms around her back, pulled her to him, and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and leaned in.

After a moment, she pulled back. She opened her eyes, and looked up into Chuck's eyes. "I…"

Her voice got quiet. "I love you, Chuck Bartowski."

Chuck looked down at her, keeping eye contact for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, his lips parted.

"Kaywinnit Lee Frye… I love you too."

* * *

**9:22 P.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

Mullins had finally finished his plan. He was going to take out Casey first, then Larkin and Walker. He would hold the two astronauts at gunpoint, force them to fly him to _Serenity_, kill Bartowski, and then, he didn't know. He'd probably die, but as long as Bartowski was gone, so much the better.

He slowly opened his door a crack. Peering out, he saw that Casey was floating there, right in front of him, with his back to him.

Grinning evilly, Mullins slammed the door open. The impact knocked Casey against the wall. He turned to face Mullins, and Mullins stabbed his plastic shank directly into Casey's gut.

Casey grabbed his stomach in surprise, and Mullins punched him with an uppercut, knocking his head into the wall. Casey dropped to the floor, unconscious. Mullins reached under Casey's jacket and removed his gun from its holster.

Floating up the ladder to the cockpit, he announced his presence by shouting, "NOBODY FUCKING MOVE!"

Everybody whirled to face him. Then everybody's hands shot up in the air.

"Okay, Mullins, what are you doing?" Bryce inquired quietly.

"What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?" Mullins spat. "I'm taking you fuckers out, and then it's bye-bye Bartowski!"

"Oh, the hell," Sarah said. Using one foot to shove off the wall, she flew into Mullins, trying to get the gun away from him.

Sarah got one hand around his wrist, and used her other arm to get him in a headlock, but desperate, he started shooting.

"Oh shit!" Bryce said, trying to take cover.

One bullet hit Captain Tweedum in the left shoulder, another hit his console, causing it to spit sparks into the air, and a third hit Major Lorenz just below his right ear. He pitched forward onto his control yoke, blood floating into the air.

Sarah finally put an elbow into Mullins' nose. He let go of the gun, clasping his hands to his face. Sarah grabbed the gun out of mid-air, aimed it at Mullins' forehead, and shot him at point blank range.

* * *

**11:45 P.M.**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Chuck and Kaylee were in Inara's shuttle. Dinner had led to dancing had led to music and making out in the Herder had led to here. Kaylee had initially expressed concern about being there, but Chuck assured her he had Inara's permission.

The moving hadn't ended the making out. Oh no. Chuck's hands had found their way to the middle of Kaylee's back, and his fingers were on the zipper tab.

Ever so slowly, he moved the zipper downward, fully opening the back of Kaylee's dress. With no support left, it slipped off her, leaving her in a tiny little strapless black bra and thong, with Chuck's tie dangling loosely from her neck, where it had been for the last hour and a half or so.

The new ensemble shocked Chuck a little. "Wow," he said. "I don't remember asking Inara to get anything like that for you."

"Well, she did," Kaylee said with a little giggle. "You thought of the dress from a male perspective. Inara thought of it from the female perspective."

She gently laid her fingers on Chuck's collar. "My turn," she said.

Agonizingly slowly, she moved down the front of his shirt, opening it one button at a time. When it was unbuttoned, she ran her fingers over his chest. Chuck closed his eyes and smiled, and then reopened them as she slipped his shirt and jacket off.

Kaylee then moved downward. Within two minutes, they were both as they had come into the world and in Chuck's bed. Chuck lay on his back, with Kaylee lying gently on top of him.

"I've been waiting for this for a while," Kaylee whispered.

"Believe me when I say that so have I," Chuck replied with a smile.

Laughing softly, she sat up. Chuck watched, taking in her beauty. She looked so different in her engineering outfit – the black dress, and, well, her birthday suit made all the difference.

She slowly slid backwards and onto him. She gasped as he entered her, moaning softly and biting her lip.

_This was definitely worth waiting for_.

* * *

Outside the shuttle, Jayne crouched by the door trying to hear. He leaped up when Inara walked up behind him and smacked the back of his head. "What in hell are you doing here?" she whispered. 

"Uh, just puttin' this sign up," he grunted. Smacking a piece of paper against the door, he walked away.

Inara read the paper and couldn't help but laugh.

_If this shuttle's rockin', don't come a-knockin'!_

* * *

**12:15 A.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

"This is not good," Bryce said. "Casey's lost a lot of blood. Major Lorenz barely has a pulse. Captain Tweedum's okay for now, but he's gonna need help."

"Don't worry about me," Tweedum grunted through his pain. "_Enterprise_ is hurt a hell of a lot worse than I am."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I mean, helm control is gone. I can power the engines up and down, but I can't steer. Jumper control is gone. Life support… well, he fried the system."

"What?!" Sarah gasped, her eyes widening.

"Yeah. We've got about two hours of oxygen remaining before we pass out from carbon dioxide poisoning," Tweedum replied.

"Oh God," Sarah whispered.

* * *

**12:17 A.M.**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

Kaylee lay next to Chuck, a satisfied smile on her face. "That was better than strawberries," she breathed.

Chuck smiled too. "That's good to hear," he replied. "I was concerned – it had been awhile."

Kaylee pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at Chuck. "How about that kiss you told me about that was better than sex? Was this better than that?"

Chuck thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Oh, yes," he said with a smile. "This was WAY better than that."

* * *

**12:22 A.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

"Do our radios still work?" Sarah asked anxiously.

"I think so," Tweedum replied. "I'm not positive, but I don't think the systems that went down affected the radios at all."

Crossing to the front of the cockpit, Sarah pulled herself down into Major Lorenz's seat and strapped herself in. She pulled on his headset, and then keyed the transmission button.

"Mayday, mayday," she said. "This is shuttle _Enterprise_. We have lost helm control and life support. We have two critically wounded crew. We require immediate assistance.

"Please help us."


	13. Time's Up

**12:22 A.M.**

**February 15****th****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

River was by herself. That's how she liked it at this time of night. She didn't sleep much, so while the rest of the crew slept, she flew _Serenity_, the quiet of the ship soothing her busy, busy mind.

Unexpectedly, the quiet was broken by a scratchy signal coming over the radio. "…yday, mayd… shutt… …terprise… have lost helm cont… …ife suppor… …tically wounded crew… …mmediate assistance. Please help us."

The signal boosted dramatically at the end of the call. River hit the transmit button. "This is transport _Serenity_. Please state your situation."

There was silence for a moment, and River was afraid that she had lost the caller. Then, another transmission came through, clear as a bell.

"_Serenity_, this is shuttle _Enterprise_. We have lost helm control and life support, and we have two critically wounded crew members. Can you help us?"

River listened to the voice coming over the radio. It was the tightly controlled voice of a woman who was on the verge of totally losing it but was maintaining control. River knew that tone of voice well.

"_Enterprise_, please stand by," she replied.

She hit the comm button. "River to Captain Reynolds."

It was a moment before Mal's sleepy voice came on the radio. "Yeah…"

"We're receiving a distress call from a shuttle _Enterprise_," River said. "They've lost helm control and life support, and they've got two critically wounded crew members."

Silence for a moment. "How far away?" Mal slurred.

"About an hour."

"Well, get us in gear," Mal replied.

"Already on the way."

Down in his quarters, Mal sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Helm control and life support. That meant mechanical and computer. Two critically wounded crew. That meant medical. Wouldn't hurt to have security.

"Mal to all crew," he said, hitting the comm button. "Please meet me in the crew mess."

* * *

**12:25 A.M.**

"Well, so much for that," Chuck grumbled as Kaylee rolled off of him.

"We'll finish later, I promise," she said with a smile, kissing him gently. "Besides, didn't we just finish like eight minutes ago?"

"I suppose," Chuck allowed.

The only clothes they had were their date clothes, so Kaylee slid back into the cocktail dress and Chuck put his shirt and slacks back on. Arm in arm, they headed up to the crew mess.

"What's up?" Kaylee asked as they entered the room.

The whole crew turned to look at them, and then, practically as one, rose to their feet and began to applaud.

Kaylee blushed right to the roots of her hair, but Chuck took a small bow. He got a smack in the back of his head for his troubles.

"Okay, folks, seriously," Mal said, as Kaylee and Chuck took a seat. "Here's the situation. There's a shuttle a little ways from us that has lost helm control and life support. They have two critically wounded crew."

Mal paused for a moment. "The thing is, we have no clue about these people. They might be trying to drag us in and keelhaul us. I don't know. So, Jayne and Zoe will be our muscle. Chuck, I'm going to need you to do whatever computer work they need; Kaylee, you'll do their mechanical work. Simon, you're gonna be doing surgery, I imagine. River, you're flying."

* * *

**1:15 A.M.**

"Mal, this is River," the voice sounded over the intercom. "The shuttle's in visual range."

"Alright," Mal said. "Chuck, Kaylee, you come with me."

Kaylee and Chuck followed Mal to the bridge. "Where is it?" Mal asked as he entered the control room.

"There," River stated, pointing.

Mal peered out the windows. "That white thing in the distance?" he asked.

"That's it."

Mal grabbed a pair of binoculars from the wall, and held them up to his face. "Yeah, they're definitely adrift," he said, passing the binoculars to Kaylee.

Kaylee took a look. "Interesting design." She passed the binoculars to Chuck.

Chuck raised the binoculars to his eyes, focused on the white spot –

And for the first time in two months, his brain went crazy. Images flashed in front of his eyes – a designator number. A space shuttle lifting off from Cape Canaveral. A hot fudge sundae? A report from Area 51. The name "Enterprise".

He lowered the binoculars slowly. His face had gone white. Mal turned and looked at him.

"Chuck?" he said, a note of concern in his voice. "What is it?"

"It's time for me to go," Chuck said softly.

He heard a sharp intake of breath next to him. He turned to see Kaylee, her face pale, her eyes starting to fill with tears. Before she could run, though, he grabbed her hand. She looked at him, and he gently slid his other arm around her. He just held her against him for a moment. Then, the radio crackled to life.

"_Serenity_, this is _Enterprise_. We have you in visual range."

Chuck's head snapped up again. That voice. That voice that he hadn't heard since December 23rd.

Sarah's voice.

* * *

**1:20 A.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

"There it is," Bryce said. "We finally found her, whether by accident or design."

"Hopefully they can help us," Sarah said. "Hopefully they can tell us where Chuck is."

Mullins' corpse had been stowed in the cargo bay, next to Bryce's Pontiac. Lorenz had been strapped down in the bunk in what had been Mullins' cell. His pulse was still weak, but it was still there. Casey was semi-conscious and loaded on morphine. Tweedum had his left arm in a sling and his shoulder tightly wrapped in gauze. He was seated in the pilot's seat, keeping watch over the shuttle's functions.

"_Enterprise_, this is _Serenity_," the voice of the woman Sarah had been talking to crackled over the radio. "We're going to be docking with you in about two minutes. You may experience a lurch and maybe a few bumps as we dock."

"Copy that," Tweedum said over the radio. "We don't mind the bumps."

_Serenity_ loomed large in _Enterprise_'s port side windows as she slowly moved in to dock. There were, in fact, a few bumps and then a dull "thud" as the docking collar engaged with the hatch on the side of the cockpit.

After a moment, the voice came back. "Airlock pressure is equalized," the woman said. "You may open your hatch whenever you're ready."

Bryce grabbed the lever on the door and pulled it clockwise. The hatch slowly swung open to reveal a docking tunnel.

Sarah looked down the tunnel into what appeared to be a crew mess. The first people she saw were a tall woman and a guy who looked strangely like Casey. Behind them, she saw two men with brown hair, a red-headed woman…

And Chuck.

Sarah's eyes went wide and her breath caught as she made eye contact with Chuck. Forgetting about protocol, forgetting about the three injured people onboard, Sarah began to walk quickly down the docking tunnel, then run, barreling through the crew and practically hurling herself at Chuck.

She wrapped her arms around him, attaching herself to him as though she intended to never let go. As he embraced her, a great heaving sob worked its way up her chest and escaped.

"It's okay," Chuck whispered. "It's okay."

"I… I… I was afraid I was never going to see you again," she sobbed into his shirt. "I missed you… I missed you so much."

Meanwhile, Jayne, Zoe, Mal and Simon had made their way onto _Enterprise_. "Where are the wounded people?" Simon asked without preamble.

"Uh, he's been shot," Bryce replied, indicating Captain Tweedum. Pointing to Casey, he said, "He's got a stab wound to the stomach. We've also got a guy with a gunshot wound to the head strapped into a bed in the back."

"I'm okay to walk," Captain Tweedum said, declining Jayne's offer of help. Jayne turned to Casey.

"Sweet mother of God," he breathed. "It's my fourteen times great grandpappy."

Hearing this, Casey opened his eyes. High on morphine, he studied Jayne's face for a moment, cocking his head to the side. "Wow… you look just like me… but ugly!"

Jayne unstrapped Casey from his seat. Getting his arm under one shoulder, he lifted him up. When Casey winced, Zoe got under his other shoulder. They helped him into the docking tunnel and onto _Serenity_.

Mal, Simon, and Bryce had gone to the cell to retrieve Major Lorenz. Very gently, they had moved him to a fold-out stretcher that Simon had brought with him. Now, they were slowly carrying him out of _Enterprise_ onto_ Serenity_.

As Mal and Simon took Lorenz below to the infirmary, Sarah finally released her death grip on Chuck. At the same time, Bryce approached Chuck. "How's it goin', Chuck?" he asked.

It took Chuck a moment to realize he was speaking Klingon. "Eh, same shit, different day," he replied in the same language.

"That seems to be how it goes every time we run into each other," Bryce laughed, switching to English. "Fulcrum REALLY did a number on you this time, though."

"So, are these your friends from the 21st century, Chuck?" Kaylee asked.

"Yes, of course," Chuck said. "Sorry, I can't believe I was that rude. Kaylee, this is Sarah Walker, from the CIA, and Bryce Larkin, also CIA, and my roommate in college."

"You mean, the guy who got you kicked out and stole your girlfriend?" Kaylee asked brightly.

"Uh, yeah, he had his reasons," Chuck temporized, as Bryce gave him a what-the-fuck look.

"So, who's this, Chuck?" Sarah asked, her voice tightening a little as she realized that Kaylee bore a striking resemblance to the red-headed woman from her dreams.

"This is Kaylee Frye," said Chuck, stepping back by her and slipping his hand into hers.

"For lack of a better term… she's my girlfriend."

Sarah's eyes went wide… and then everything went black.

Bryce lunged forward and caught Sarah as she collapsed, stopping her just before her head hit the deck. "I didn't realize she had it THAT bad for you," he said, looking up at Chuck.

Chuck stepped forward to help Bryce, but he waved Chuck off. "Don't worry, I'll get her down to the infirmary," Bryce said. "I imagine you two probably have some things you're going to need to talk about."

As Bryce carried Sarah out of the cargo bay, Chuck turned to Kaylee. "He's right… but honestly, I don't even know where to start. I don't have a clue what to do."

"It's okay, Chuck," Kaylee said, wrapping her arms around him. "Right now, I think we need to go get some sleep."

"Is that what they call it now?" Chuck asked, a mischievous grin playing across his face as he pulled back to look at her.

"SLEEP, Mr. Bartowski," Kaylee replied, her voice taking on a serious tone. "I am exhausted, I imagine you are too, and that shuttle's going to need a lot of help in the morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

**10:14 A.M.**

Sarah swam up through the darkness, approaching consciousness. Finally, she opened her eyes, and turned her head, to see Bryce sitting in a chair beside her and the one they had called Simon watching over Major Lorenz.

"Well, good morning sunshine," Bryce said.

"What the hell happened?" Sarah rasped.

"Well, let's see," Bryce replied. "You've been in a shuttle with me, Casey, and two astronauts for seven weeks, flying all over the year 2519. On something like four hours sleep, you single-handedly kept Mullins from re-enacting the Valentine's Day Massacre onboard _Enterprise_. You're probably dehydrated, and you went from zero gravity to full gravity in about half a second. Then, Chuck told you he had a girlfriend, and that was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back."

At that last, Sarah jolted upward, just as Simon turned around. "Ah, ah, I wouldn't recommend sitting up just quite yet," he warned.

Sarah went light-headed, and quickly laid her head back down on the pillow. "I concur," she agreed.

"I'm Dr. Simon Tam," he said. "And you, I presume, are Agent Sarah Walker."

Sarah nodded. "Okay," he said. "So here's the deal. You're severly dehydrated, you're malnourished, your muscle tone has been shot to hell by all the time you've spent in zero gee, and you've got a massive estrogen imbalance that's being countered by some synthetic drug that I've never seen before. I'm trying to flush out your system, and I've got you on intravenous saline to rehydrate you, but it's going to be at least a few hours before I'm comfortable with you leaving the infirmary, and at least a day or two before I'm alright with you leaving _Serenity_."

"What about the others?" Sarah asked.

"Well, everybody, including Agent Larkin here, was suffering from the same basic problems as you," Simon replied. "Dehydration, malnourishment, crap muscle tone, all that. Bryce is otherwise okay. Major Casey actually wasn't that badly wounded – I was able to get him patched up pretty quickly. He's up in the crew mess, talking with Jayne Cobb, one of our crew – they're apparently related.

"Major Lorenz was pretty badly hurt," Simon continued. "There was luckily no brain damage; however, he lost a rather large amount of blood, and despite everything I've done, he's probably going to need more surgery as soon as he can get to a major hospital. I put Captain Tweedum's shoulder in a cast; he'll be fine in a few weeks."

"What about _Enterprise_?"

"We're headed back to Persephone," Bryce replied. "The damage is way beyond Chuck and Kaylee's capabilities, so I contacted Utopia Planitia, and they really weren't too happy to hear from me. I got a lecture from the shipyard commander about taking better care of my ship, and how we'd only been gone for a day, and blah blah blah. They're going to send up a large container ship, pick _Enterprise_ up in orbit, and then take her down to the planet's surface for repair. We're looking at about another week once we reach the planet."

Sarah paused for a moment, not really knowing how to ask her next question, but finally she just went as simple as she could. "And what about Chuck?"

Bryce didn't say anything for a moment. "Sarah…"

He shook his head. "He's quite possibly in the most impossible situation a man can be placed in. We talked about it for a long time this morning. He's in love… but he feels like staying here would mean abandoning everything he holds dear. He's gonna need a few days to think about it."

"I should talk to him…"

"No, I don't think you should," Bryce replied. "I mean, I'm not saying you shouldn't talk to him at all, but I don't think you should talk to him about this. He still cares about you a great deal, and this is going to be difficult enough for him without your voice constantly in his head.

"This is a choice that Chuck is going to have to make for himself."


	14. Forever and Ever

**1:30 A.M.**

**February 18****th****, 2519**

**Eavesdown Docks**

**planet Persephone**

It was 1:30 in the morning. Malcolm Reynolds, Chuck Bartowski, and Bryce Larkin were hammered. Well and truly hammered.

"Thish ish ridiculoush," Chuck slurred. "I fall in love, and Bryshe freakin' Larkin showsh up to take her away again."

"I'm sooorrrry, Chuck," Bryce replied. "But thissss one's not my faullllt."

"He'sh right, Shuck," Mal Reynolds chimed in. "Shoundsh like dish ish doesh Fulcrum fuckersh."

"Well, it shtill leavesh me with a fucked up choish," Chuck grumbled. "I either leave Kaylee and break her heart, or I abandon my friendsh and family."

At that moment, Jayne Cobb and John Casey entered the room, arms around each other, holding large bottles of… something… and singing the ballad of Jayne Cobb.

"Looksh like they really took to eash other," Mal said.

"Yeah, onshe Cashey convinshed Jayne that the N Esh A washn't entirely evil," Chuck replied, his head drooping till his forehead touched the bar.

At that moment, there was a squeal of tires outside the bar. Seconds later, Zoe Washburne and Sarah Walker entered.

"What the hell?" Sarah said upon seeing Chuck, Mal, and Bryce. "Are you all drunk?"

"They're not the only ones," Zoe remarked, pointing toward Jayne and Casey, now on the stage. She winced as a bass line kicked in – Casey had found "Baby Got Back" in the DJ's collection and convinced him to put it on for karaoke.

Sarah grimaced as Casey and Jayne started singing about big butts and the like, but turned around when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Bryce was standing behind her. "Were you driving my Transh Am again, woman?" he asked, giving her the gimlet eye.

"Yes, I was. You need to go back to _Serenity_ and go to bed," Sarah said, a tone of annoyance in her voice. "I need to see Chuck and Mal."

"Preshent," Chuck said with a drunken smile.

"And accounted for –_ hic_," added Mal with a hiccup.

"Unbelievable," Sarah muttered under her breath. She turned to Zoe. "You want to deal with this? I'm not sure I can handle these two in this situation."

"Not a problem," Zoe replied. She turned to the bartender and asked for two pitchers of ice water. Pitchers in hand, she walked up to Chuck and Mal and doused them both.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Chuck and Mal both leapt to their feet, the freezing water chasing some of the alcoholic cobwebs from their heads.

"Okay, you two drunken jackasses need to listen, and listen good," Zoe snapped. "Kaylee's missing."

That got Chuck's attention. "What?!"

Mal just had a shocked expression on his face.

"Yeah," Zoe said. "She took the… the… what's it called, Sarah?"

"The Herder."

"She took the Herder at 8:00, said she was going to find you guys. We haven't seen or heard from her since."

"Shit, shit, shit," Chuck said frantically, running for the door.

"Get in the back seat, Chuck!" Sarah shouted. "We need a sober driver AND navigator!"

Chuck and Mal squeezed into the backseat of the Trans Am, Sarah and Zoe jumping in the front. "Where do you think she might have gone?" Sarah asked, turning to Zoe.

"I'm not really sure," Zoe said. "I… I don't…"

"Earth-That-Was Antiques," Chuck gasped, a flash of inspiration running through his head.

"Where is it?" Sarah asked.

Chuck gave her directions, and a few minutes later, the Trans Am was parking in front of the store, behind the Herder. The lights in the store were off, and the front door appeared to be locked.

Kneeling in front of the door, Sarah quickly picked the lock. She opened the door, gun drawn, and was about to go in –

"Sarah, let me do it, please," Chuck said gently.

She stepped back reluctantly, and Chuck stepped into the store. He could faintly hear music in the back of the store – the Beatles again. Following the music to its source, he entered an area set up to look like a living room in a back corner.

An ancient iHome was playing "Hey Jude" from an equally ancient iPod. Kaylee was curled up, asleep, on a La-Z-Boy.

Chuck gently sat down on the La-Z-Boy and touched Kaylee on the shoulder. "Kaylee," he said softly.

She stirred, opened her eyes a little, and smiled when she saw Chuck. "Hi," she said.

"Why'd you run away, Kaylee?" Chuck said.

"I… I don't really know," she replied. She started to say something else, but her face crumpled and tears began to run down her face.

Chuck gently pulled her up to a sitting position, and wrapped his arms around her, just letting her cry.

After a few minutes, she finally came to a stop. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "It's just… I know… I know you have to leave, Chuck, and every time I think about it, I feel like I die a little."

Chuck felt like an icy hand gripped his stomach and started twisting. He was at a point where he couldn't stand the pain he was causing Kaylee. But what was he supposed to do?

"Come on," he whispered. "It's time for us to go."

Zoe drove Chuck and Kaylee back to _Serenity_ in the Herder, while Sarah and Mal drove back in the Trans Am, stopping to pick up Bryce along the way. When they reached the ship, Chuck helped Kaylee to her quarters, and was about to go, when she whispered, "No, Chuck, please stay."

And so he did. He held her as she softly cried herself to sleep. Though Chuck would never admit to it, a rather significant amount of tears found their way out of his eyes as he fell asleep as well.

* * *

**12:00 P.M.**

**February 19****th****, 2519**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

**Eavesdown Docks**

Chuck woke up with the worst hangover he'd had since New Year's Day. It took him a moment to realize that he was in Kaylee's quarters. He also realized – no Kaylee. Then he saw the note she'd left him.

_Chuck – I took the Herder out to Shepherd Book's old monastery to go pick some strawberries. It always calms my mind and my spirit. Hope that's okay with you. Love you._

Chuck closed his eyes and bowed his head, trying to will away the guilt that was building within him. It ate at him, like a cancer of his soul.

With a heavy sigh, he lifted himself from Kaylee's bunk and climbed the ladder to the hall. Taking a left, he headed to the crew mess, always a certain source of coffee.

When he entered the mess, he saw perhaps the last person he wanted to see – Sarah. Not that he didn't want to see her, but he was dreading the decision that he was going to have to make in part because of her.

Sarah turned when she saw him come in. "Morning, sunshine," she said with a small smile.

"Mrnng.," Chuck grunted.

"Hangovers can be a bitch," Sarah remarked, not unsympathetically.

"'Specially when you get a bucket of ice water dumped on your head," Chuck grumped. Filling a mug with straight black coffee, he flopped down in a chair at the table.

Sarah looked up at him, stopped working on her report for a moment, and closed her laptop.

"Chuck…" she started. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"Chuck, if you don't want to go back…" She paused and closed her eyes. "If you don't want to go back, you don't have to. I won't judge you, and I'll make sure nobody tries to come make you come back."

Chuck slowly looked up from his coffee and met Sarah's eyes. He had a look of shocked disbelief on his face. Without a word, he stood from the table, walked to the other end, gently lifted Sarah from her chair, and embraced her in a bear hug.

She lost it at that point. "I… I just want you to be happy," she cried. "You're getting what I've always wanted, and I... I don't… I can't make you go back and have to work and be an analyst and have to deal with Fulcrum and all that back in L.A…"

Sarah realized she was babbling and stopped. Chuck pulled back a little and looked down at her.

Echoing something she had said what seemed like ages ago, Chuck softly said, "Sarah, it never felt like work to me."

Pulling her back in to him, he held her for a little while longer, and then said, "I'll let you know."

Picking up his coffee, he walked out of the mess, leaving Sarah alone with her laptop and everything running through her mind.

* * *

**February 21****st****, 2519**

Chuck finally made his decision on the 21st. However, the only person he told was Kaylee. They went for a drive far out of Utopia City, and when they came back, they headed into the ship holding hands.

Sarah's heart sank a little when she saw that, but she reminded herself of what she had told Chuck. It was his choice to make, and his alone.

At 6:00 on the morning of the 22nd, _Serenity_ received a signal from the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, telling them that repairs were completed on _Enterprise_, and she'd be ready to go around noon.

Most of the crew headed over there fairly early on – Bryce, Sarah, Casey and Tweedum in the Trans Am; Inara, Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Lorenz in Inara's shuttle. River and Simon had to stay on the ship for obvious reasons, and Kaylee and Chuck hadn't yet emerged from Kaylee's quarters.

Bryce remarked on that on the drive over. "Where is Chuck?" he asked. "I haven't seen him all morning."

Sarah braced herself for the onslaught as she told them the truth. "I told him he didn't have to come back."

However, instead of the barrage of outrage she expected from the three men, she just got quiet "Oh"s and "I see"s.

When they reached the shipyard, they were in for a shock. Utopia Planitia hadn't just repaired the _Enterprise_.

She looked brand new again. They'd completely repainted her. "Enterprise" had been repainted in bold black block letters below the cockpit windows. The American flag, instead of being the normal straight, blocky flag seen on US aircraft and spacecraft, had been repainted to look like it was flapping in the wind.

NASA's old meatball logo was painted proudly in bright blue on the vertical stabilizer. Finally, somebody with a flair for the dramatic had painted a maroon swoop that started at the leading edge of the wings and flared up to about halfway up the vertical stabilizer, and a light gray "United States of America" adorned the cargo bay doors, almost like on Air Force One.

Casey stood up out of the Trans Am. "Now that's a damn patriotic sight right there," he said happily.

Despite the swell of patriotism the sight of the shuttle inspired in the Americans, their work was quiet. Inara and Zoe carefully loaded Lorenz into the shuttle and got him strapped into the bunk in the cell. Simon had induced a coma, and put him on an I.V. drip to keep him in the coma until he reached medical facilities on Earth.

Bryce supervised the loading of the Trans Am into the cargo bay of the shuttle. Tweedum carefully clambered up into the cockpit to begin pre-flight. The crew of _Serenity_ and the Americans began to make their good-byes to each other. Jayne and Casey were in the midst of a bone-crushing handshake when the Herder pulled onto the airfield.

The doors opened. Kaylee stepped out of the driver's side, Chuck out of the passenger's side. He had a small duffel bag over his shoulder – all the possessions he'd come to have while he'd been in the 26th century, including Shepherd Book's Bible and history book.

He walked up to the group. "So, I realized something," he began.

"I could stay here. I've fallen in love. The woman of my dreams is here in 2519. When I leave, she'll be heart broken.

"But my home is in the 21st century. That's where my family is. My friends. My duty to my country.

"When I stop and think about Ellie, Captain Awesome, Morgan, and what a big part of their lives I am… even when I stop and think about you, Sarah, and you, big guy," he said, pointing to Casey, "I realize that if I stayed here, they and you would all be utterly devastated. It would be selfish of me, and I can't do that to all of you."

Casey opened his mouth to make a snarky remark, and then, reconsidered and closed his mouth.

"Besides which," Chuck went on, "the _Enterprise_ only has half a pilot, and because of the Intersect, I know how to fly her.

"It's time to go home."

Kaylee stepped back a little as Sarah came up to Chuck. Without a word, Sarah hugged Chuck tightly. After a moment, she let go, and said she'd be on the shuttle.

"You're a good man, Chuck Bartowski," Casey said in a strangely soft voice, heading for the shuttle.

Bryce looked like he didn't know what to say. He just said he'd see Chuck onboard and headed for the shuttle.

The crew of _Serenity_ approached Chuck to make their good-byes.

"You were a great addition to our crew, Chuck," Mal said, his voice catching a little. "I wish we could keep you around."

Zoe hugged him and said good-bye. Inara hugged him, and as she did so, she whispered, "Thank you for being so wonderful to Kaylee."

Chuck hugged her a little harder for that, and then Inara moved on. Jayne grabbed his hand in a rather forceful shake. "Best of luck to you, buddy," he said.

Once they had all said good-bye, they boarded the shuttle and left. Kaylee and Chuck were left alone, standing by the Herder.

"I guess this… this is good-bye," Kaylee said, her eyes shining with tears.

"I'll never forget you, Kaylee Frye," Chuck whispered, not trusting his voice. "You're absolutely wonderful… and I love you."

"I love you too, Chuck," she said softly, embracing him. She pulled back, and kissed him one last time. Then she broke it off.

"You better get going," she said.

Chuck, still holding her right hand in his left, gave it a final squeeze, then let go and headed for _Enterprise_. As soon as he was inside, the hatch was shut and the stairway was rolled away.

Kaylee watched as the shuttle taxied to the runway. She stood there and looked on as the engine ports began to glow, and _Enterprise_ began to roll. It built up speed, and then left Persephone, heading off into the sky.

By now, Kaylee was all cried out, so with a sigh, she got into the Herder, started it up, and headed back to Eavesdown Docks.

* * *

**2:39 P.M.**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

_Enterprise_ was in orbit around Persephone. Tweedum had told Chuck that the shuttle had to make three complete orbits in order to build up enough speed to head out of the shuttle's gravity well and engage the jumper.

The orbits gave Chuck time to familiarize himself with the controls. As they came over the terminator and prepared to break orbit, Chuck noticed a glint of sunlight on metal off to the starboard side.

About forty miles ahead, Chuck could see _Serenity_ rising out of Persephone's atmosphere. "They're coming to see us off," Captain Tweedum said softly.

Sure enough, a moment later, River Tam's voice came over the radio. _"_Serenity_ to _Enterprise_,"_ she said. _"Smooth sailing… and we'll see you around the galaxy."_

"Copy that, _Serenity_," Tweedum replied. "Thanks, and we'll make sure to send a postcard."

They could hear River laugh over the radio. _"Good luck with that."_

Chuck gently turned the control yoke to the right, causing _Enterprise_ to break orbit and head out into space. A moment later, Tweedum said, "Jumper is prepared."

Chuck looked at _Serenity_ one last time. "Let's go," he said.

* * *

**transport **_**Serenity**_

The crew had gathered on the bridge to see _Enterprise_ off. "_Serenity _to _Enterprise_," River said, keying the microphone. "Smooth sailing… and we'll see you around the galaxy."

Kaylee pressed her face against the glass, trying to see if she could see Chuck through the cockpit windows of _Enterprise_. No such luck.

"_Copy that, _Serenity._ Thanks, and we'll make sure to send a postcard."_

That caused laughter throughout the bridge. Even Kaylee allowed herself a small chuckle.

"Good luck with that," River replied with a laugh.

As they watched, _Enterprise_ turned away from Persephone. A silver glow began to build around the shuttle, and then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Silence filled the bridge of _Serenity_ for a moment.

"Alright," Mal finally said, breaking the quiet. "Time to get back to work."

* * *

**8:22 P.M.**

**January 3****rd****, 2008**

**shuttle **_**Enterprise**_

**in orbit over Earth**

"That's definitely Earth," Chuck said when they popped out of the jump.

"Yeah, but when?" Bryce said, the first time he'd spoken since they lifted off from Persephone.

"Only one way to find out," Tweedum said. Keying the radio, he said, "Houston, this is_ Enterprise_. How copy?"

"Enterprise_, this is Houston, welcome back,"_ came the distinctive voice of General Beckman.

"Copy, Houston," Tweedum replied. "What's today's date?"

"_Today is Thursday, January 3__rd__, 2008. You've only been gone for five days."_

"Not bad," Tweedum muttered. "Ah, Houston, request landing instructions."

"Enterprise_, you are instructed to land at Edwards Air Force Base."_

"Copy," Tweedum replied. "That makes it easy."

Re-entry and landing were totally uneventful. Chuck and Tweedum landed the shuttle with no problems. Tweedum had given instructions to have an ambulance standing by, and so it was there to take Lorenz to the base hospital as soon as they landed. Over Tweedum's protests, he was piled into the ambulance as well.

Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Bryce were sequestered in a remote part of Edwards for a week. They were all thoroughly debriefed, Chuck most of all.

Finally, on January 10th, the NSA and CIA decided they'd gotten enough out of the agents, and told them they were free to go. Needless to say, there was a little bit of _maskirovka_ that would have to occur, sneaking Chuck into Northridge Medical Center in the dead of night and making it appear that he'd had a miraculous recovery. An MRI at the Edwards hospital had determined that Chuck's healed injuries from his crash onboard _Serenity_ would be sufficient to convince the casual observer that he had, in fact, been in a horrific accident.

The CIA sent a jet to take Chuck, Sarah, and Casey from Edwards to Van Nuys Airport. Bryce would be departing separately, in the Trans Am. Before they left, though, Bryce took Chuck aside.

"You know," he said, "I thought that I had to sacrifice a lot to go under and chase down Fulcrum."

He paused. "It was nothing compared to what you did. I don't know if I could've left her behind."

Bryce shook Chuck's hand. "I like to think of myself as a good man," Bryce said. "But you're definitely a better man than I, Charles Irving Bartowski."

"Thanks, Bryce," Chuck said quietly. "I'll see you around."

Bryce nodded, then got into the Trans Am and burned rubber.

A few hours later, Ellie, Awesome and Morgan came bursting into room 42 at Northridge Medical Center, overjoyed to see Chuck awake and in decent shape. Sarah stood by as they were reunited, a sad smile on her face.

On the morning of the thirteenth, Casey woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. On the way back to his bedroom, he was surprised to look out the window and catch a glimpse of Chuck standing out in the courtyard.

Opening his door, Casey walked out to Chuck. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm alright," Chuck replied. "Just doing a little star-gazing."

Casey nodded. "Okay. Don't freeze yourself."

Chuck laughed quietly. "I won't."

"Good night, Chuck."

"Night, Casey."


	15. The Big Damn Epilogue

**6:03 PM**

**February 14****th****, 2008**

**Echo Park, California**

As always, when there was a knock at Casey's door, he made sure he had his gun in hand before answering. But, as usual, it was just Chuck.

"What's up?" Casey asked. "Got tired of discussing sandwich condiments with Morgan?"

"We've never discussed –"

"Do I need to play it for you?" Casey interrupted. "You know I can."

Chuck just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, I've got a favor to ask."

"A favor? You're asking me for a favor?"

Casey picked up his day planner from the coffee table. "Let me write it down. Today, a miracle happened. Bartowski came to me asking for a favor."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Chuck deadpanned. "No, this one has more to do with the future."

"The future?" Casey asked. "You mean the _Serenity_?"

"Yeah, exactly," Chuck said. "You know how we discovered that the NSA still existed in the 26th century?"

"Uh, yeah," Casey replied. He didn't like where this was going.

"Well… I was wondering if it would be possible to put something in the NSA's archives for delivery to the _Serenity_ in 2520."

"But you left in 2519."

"Yeah, but the date that I want it delivered on, I was still on the _Serenity_ in 2519," Chuck explained. "So it has to be 2520."

"The date you want it… oh, God," Casey said, coming to understanding as he realized what day it was. "You want to send the redhead a Valentine's Day card through the NSA archives?"

Chuck said nothing, just handed Casey a thin box. A Buy More shipping label had been affixed to the exterior. It read "Kaywinnit Lee Frye, c/o transport vessel _Serenity_. To be delivered February 14, 2520."

Casey took it from Chuck, looked at it, and then shook his head. "I'll make sure it happens."

* * *

**2:42 P.M.**

**February 14****th****, 2520**

**transport **_**Serenity**_

"Transport vessel_ Serenity_, this is the Alliance cruiser _Columbia_. Release helm control and prepare for docking."

"Do as they say," Mal said quietly to River. Nodding, she took her hands off the controls, and the _Columbia_'s computer took over guidance.

"What the hell could they possibly want," Mal muttered. "River! Call Jayne, Zoe and Kaylee and have them meet me in the cargo bay!"

When the ship had docked, Mal told Jayne to open the bay doors. However, they were not greeted by the usual welcoming committee of a squad of Alliance soldiers. Instead, it was just one officer, holding a thin black box in his hand.

"Is one of you Kaywinnit Lee Frye?" he said, with no greeting.

"That's me," Kaylee said, stepping forward uncertainly.

"I am Captain Omar Yagosian, cruiser _Columbia_," he replied, introducing himself. "This package was in the archives of the National Security Agency. It is addressed to you, for delivery on this date."

Kaylee's brow furrowed in confusion. She stepped forward and took the package from the officer. Then she saw the faded Buy More logo on the label and her face softened into a smile.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You're welcome, ma'am," Captain Yagosian replied. He started to turn, then paused and said, "You know, there must be something very special about you. That package has been in the archives for over 500 years." He looked as if he were going to say something more, but instead, he did an about face, and returned to the _Columbia_. The cargo bay doors shut behind him.

"What is it?" Mal asked.

"Ummm… I think it's what would be called a valentine," Kaylee said. "I also think you can probably consider it private."

"Aw, that's no fun," Jayne said. "Come on, you're not going to share?"

"No way," Kaylee replied.

After everybody had left the cargo bay, she crossed to the corner where the Herder was still secured to the floor. Opening the door, she sat down in the driver's seat, gently held the box for a moment, and then after careful consideration, opened it.

Inside was a memory stick, a dried flower of some sort in a plastic package, and a pink envelope. She pulled out the memory stick and plugged it into the player that Chuck had wired into the car stereo. She turned the key to accessories to turn on the stereo.

"_Nothing's gonna change my world… nothing's gonna change my world."_

Kaylee smiled and got a little teary-eyed as the strains of the truly appropriate Beatles song filled the little 500 year-old Toyota. Picking up the envelope, she gently opened it, and removed a very brittle card from inside. Gingerly, she laid it open on the passenger seat. It split down the middle as she did so, but that didn't make the words inside any less legible.

_February 14th, 2008 _

_Dear Kaylee,_

_By the time you receive this, it will have been a little less than a year for you since I left _Serenity_. For me, it's been a little over a month._

_When we celebrated Valentine's Day in 2519, I didn't have a card or roses to give you – two of the traditional symbols of Valentine's Day._

_So, with that in mind, I thought I'd send you a Valentine's Day card. I also got hold of a rose, had it pressed and freeze-dried, and I've sent it to you. I know it doesn't look nearly as nice as it would if it were alive, but you're one of probably a very few people – maybe the only one – in your time who can say you've actually seen and touched one._

_But, besides wanting you to see a rose, in my time, a man giving a woman a rose is supposed to be a sign that he truly cares about her. And I do care about you, Kaylee Frye. You might not even be born for another 490 years, but you really are a very special person._

_And I'm so not good at this kind of thing, so I'm just going to stop before I make an idiot of myself. I'll always remember you, Kaylee. You'll be with me in my heart._

_Okay, I think I just succeeded in making an idiot of myself. I'm stopping now._

_I'll always love you,_

_Chuck Bartowski_

Tears rolled gently down Kaylee's cheeks, even as she laughed at Chuck's clumsy but sweet words and his self-deprecating manner. After a moment, she turned the Herder off, exited the car, closed the door, and headed toward the mess.

When she entered, Inara was there, holding a little three month old boy, speaking softly to him. It never failed to amaze Kaylee how well Inara had taken to the baby. She figured it must've been the Companion stereotype that made it hard for her to consider it, but Inara always just looked so natural holding the baby.

Kaylee looked at him for a moment, considering the little boy. Three months old now, he already had an incredible amount of hair – "Hell of a lot more hair than I had at that age," Mal had said.

He had gotten a lot from his father – the curly hair, the slightly pointed chin, the deep brown eyes that always seemed to be observing everything they saw. But he had definitely gotten one thing from his mother – his curly hair was bright red.

Inara looked up and saw Kaylee. "Hi," she said quietly. "Little Chuck fell asleep about half an hour ago. Before that, though, he cried for a good long while. I thought that perhaps he missed his mother, but I think it may have been more that the atmosphere in the ship was so tense during the docking with the Alliance cruiser."

Inara crossed to Kaylee and handed Little Chuck to her. "You know, it's funny that he looks so much like Chuck, but he ended up with your hair."

"Freakish genetics, I guess," Kaylee said. "Simon could probably explain it –"

"And we'd both be bored to tears," Inara replied, laughing softly.

Inara started to stand up, and then paused. "Kaylee," she said, "why didn't you go with Chuck?"

Kaylee was quiet for a moment. "He asked me to," she replied. "He practically begged me to. It broke my heart to say no, just as much as it broke his heart to leave. But I told him that just like his family was back in the twenty-first century, my family, my little family that puts the fun in dysfunctional, was here, on _Serenity_."

Inara didn't say anything for a moment. "You're an amazing young woman, Kaylee," she said. She started to leave the room. "I've got some work to get done, so I'll see you later."

"Bye, Inara," Kaylee said.

Sitting down at the table, she looked at Little Chuck. His eyes opened, and he looked right back at her, and then his eyes closed, and he fell back to sleep.

Kaylee sat quietly for several minutes, and then spoke. "Charles Irving Frye," she said. "Little Chuck. Let me tell you a story, a story about your father. It begins on December 24th, 2007, at 5:32 in the morning. We're in Los Angeles, on Earth-that-was…"

_fin_

* * *

_I hope you've all enjoyed this story. I sure thought that writing it was damn shiny._

_It occurred to me, as I was in the middle of the epilogue, that I have written a story about _Firefly_ that is fourteen chapters long and has a Big Damn Epilogue. Strangely appropriate, but totally coincidental._

_And now that I've finished the adventures of Charles Bartowski in the 26__th__ century, it's time for me to go back to actually concentrating on my job when I'm at work. Thank you all for reading!_


End file.
